Magadh
@magadh.bsky.social
Librarian, writer, Arsenal fan, curmudgeon. Often anti-social, always anti-fascist.
blasting-theory.com/2025/10/15/h...
The point of this post is not "AI is great, there's nothing to worry about." The point is, "the interaction between humans and prosthetic intelligence has some interesting and (for the moment) non-catastrophic elements.
The point of this post is not "AI is great, there's nothing to worry about." The point is, "the interaction between humans and prosthetic intelligence has some interesting and (for the moment) non-catastrophic elements.
Humans, Engines, and the Strange New Life of Chess - Blasting Theory
1. The Game That Survived the Machine There was a time, not long ago, when people thought computers would kill chess. The logic seemed airtight: a machine that could calculate every variation faster, ...
blasting-theory.com
October 15, 2025 at 10:15 AM
blasting-theory.com/2025/10/15/h...
The point of this post is not "AI is great, there's nothing to worry about." The point is, "the interaction between humans and prosthetic intelligence has some interesting and (for the moment) non-catastrophic elements.
The point of this post is not "AI is great, there's nothing to worry about." The point is, "the interaction between humans and prosthetic intelligence has some interesting and (for the moment) non-catastrophic elements.
blasting-theory.com
More to come here...
More to come here...
Blasting Theory
Making noise against the order of things.
blasting-theory.com
October 14, 2025 at 10:52 AM
blasting-theory.com
More to come here...
More to come here...
Some sketches to prep for a project on Irish politics...
thebattleground.eu/2025/09/05/t...
thebattleground.eu/2025/09/05/t...
The Trouble with Triumph
Sinn Féin and the Left
thebattleground.eu
September 5, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Some sketches to prep for a project on Irish politics...
thebattleground.eu/2025/09/05/t...
thebattleground.eu/2025/09/05/t...
open.substack.com/pub/magadh19...
Up late. Writing to try to make myself sleep...or wake up...
Up late. Writing to try to make myself sleep...or wake up...
Signal/Noise
Three Fictions of Hyperreal Los Angeles
open.substack.com
September 2, 2025 at 6:24 PM
open.substack.com/pub/magadh19...
Up late. Writing to try to make myself sleep...or wake up...
Up late. Writing to try to make myself sleep...or wake up...
Not really a book review, but some thoughts about the codes that govern our lives...
August 12, 2025 at 8:23 PM
Not really a book review, but some thoughts about the codes that govern our lives...
open.substack.com/pub/thebattl...
I wrote the first half of this months ago and only finished it the other night. Props to my editor at The Battleground for making it seem...coherent?
I wrote the first half of this months ago and only finished it the other night. Props to my editor at The Battleground for making it seem...coherent?
The New Feudalism
Populists and Their Enemies
open.substack.com
August 2, 2025 at 12:01 PM
open.substack.com/pub/thebattl...
I wrote the first half of this months ago and only finished it the other night. Props to my editor at The Battleground for making it seem...coherent?
I wrote the first half of this months ago and only finished it the other night. Props to my editor at The Battleground for making it seem...coherent?
magadh1916.substack.com/p/liberalism...
From my Substack...
From my Substack...
Liberalism: A Ghost Story in Several Acts
The twentieth century began with liberalism at the height of its powers.
magadh1916.substack.com
August 2, 2025 at 11:58 AM
magadh1916.substack.com/p/liberalism...
From my Substack...
From my Substack...
We can (and should) lament the passing of an order under which a lot of progress was made. But it pays to be realistic about what it actually was...
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by the far right. @magadh.bsky.social, on how we got here, and the economics of post-democracy.
The Strange Death of North Atlantic Liberalism
Populism Starts Here
thebattleground.eu
January 26, 2025 at 1:31 PM
We can (and should) lament the passing of an order under which a lot of progress was made. But it pays to be realistic about what it actually was...
Reading Chris Wickham's The Donkey and the Boat. Because an 800 page book about the medieval economy is about 100 times less depressing than anything happening now...
January 23, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Reading Chris Wickham's The Donkey and the Boat. Because an 800 page book about the medieval economy is about 100 times less depressing than anything happening now...
Good news: Matt Gaetz won't be the AG.
Bad news: The replacement candidate is the prosecutor who decided not to prosecute him.
Same shit, different day.
Bad news: The replacement candidate is the prosecutor who decided not to prosecute him.
Same shit, different day.
December 25, 2024 at 5:27 PM
Good news: Matt Gaetz won't be the AG.
Bad news: The replacement candidate is the prosecutor who decided not to prosecute him.
Same shit, different day.
Bad news: The replacement candidate is the prosecutor who decided not to prosecute him.
Same shit, different day.
Reposted by Magadh
The only beneficiary of the French government's collapse was Emmanuel Macron. @magadh.bsky.social, on why the Nouveau Front Populaire should hold together until the next parliamentary election.
Macron 1, France 0
The Fragile Left
thebattleground.eu
December 7, 2024 at 4:03 PM
The only beneficiary of the French government's collapse was Emmanuel Macron. @magadh.bsky.social, on why the Nouveau Front Populaire should hold together until the next parliamentary election.
Bad news Democrats: even after Trump voters aren't going to be all that enthused about billionaire liberalism.
December 4, 2024 at 7:02 PM
Bad news Democrats: even after Trump voters aren't going to be all that enthused about billionaire liberalism.
Tfw the weather isn't shitty enough for my job to close but I have to fight through a frozen hellscape to get there...
December 2, 2024 at 9:15 PM
Tfw the weather isn't shitty enough for my job to close but I have to fight through a frozen hellscape to get there...
Reposted by Magadh
The left needs more soundtracks. Yours truly, with this week's Battleground playlist featuring Goat, Sneaks, Slow Cooked, Under 45, Valentina Magaletti, Astéréotypie, Benefits, Zera Tonin, Ezhel, Murda, Aitch, Lvbel C5, Mdou Moctar and Elephant Stone.
Office Ambience
What I'm Listening To
thebattleground.substack.com
December 1, 2024 at 2:45 PM
The left needs more soundtracks. Yours truly, with this week's Battleground playlist featuring Goat, Sneaks, Slow Cooked, Under 45, Valentina Magaletti, Astéréotypie, Benefits, Zera Tonin, Ezhel, Murda, Aitch, Lvbel C5, Mdou Moctar and Elephant Stone.
Quite possibly the greatest misprint in newspaper history.
December 1, 2024 at 12:21 AM
Quite possibly the greatest misprint in newspaper history.
Reposted by Magadh
Americans voted against their own self-interest. @magadh.bsky.social, on Trump's victory and how rage at the professional-managerial social class helped make it happen.
Self-Defeating Resentment Orgy
Why Trump Won
thebattleground.eu
November 23, 2024 at 6:55 PM
Americans voted against their own self-interest. @magadh.bsky.social, on Trump's victory and how rage at the professional-managerial social class helped make it happen.
Reposted by Magadh
Punk against Trump. @magadh.bsky.social, with this week's Battleground playlist.
Office Ambience
What I'm Listening To
thebattleground.substack.com
November 17, 2024 at 4:01 PM
Punk against Trump. @magadh.bsky.social, with this week's Battleground playlist.