Rowan Emslie
@rowanemslie.bsky.social
CCO at the Centre for Future Generations. Previously Clean Air Task Force and Edelman BXL. Hertie School alum.
In other news, water is wet
September 22, 2025 at 12:29 PM
In other news, water is wet
Feels like the "dead internet theory" is becoming the mainstream POV.
Great essay from @jamesosullivan.bsky.social
www.noemamag.com/the-last-day...
Great essay from @jamesosullivan.bsky.social
www.noemamag.com/the-last-day...
The Last Days Of Social Media | NOEMA
Social media promised connection, but it has delivered exhaustion.
www.noemamag.com
September 18, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Feels like the "dead internet theory" is becoming the mainstream POV.
Great essay from @jamesosullivan.bsky.social
www.noemamag.com/the-last-day...
Great essay from @jamesosullivan.bsky.social
www.noemamag.com/the-last-day...
Really hoping this snippet from @barrymalone.bsky.social doesn't become a totem of 'what if' in the months to come. I remember the last major ebola outbreak all too well.
September 11, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Really hoping this snippet from @barrymalone.bsky.social doesn't become a totem of 'what if' in the months to come. I remember the last major ebola outbreak all too well.
It is always worth reading @kopalo.bsky.social
"Over 10m young Africans enter the labor force each year, but the region only creates 3m formal sector jobs."
open.substack.com/pub/kenopalo...
"Over 10m young Africans enter the labor force each year, but the region only creates 3m formal sector jobs."
open.substack.com/pub/kenopalo...
There will be no economic takeoff in Africa without lots of large (private sector) firms
On why African states’ jobs agenda must focus on catalyzing firm growth (and not disorganized investments in micro-entrepreneurship)
open.substack.com
August 29, 2025 at 6:49 AM
It is always worth reading @kopalo.bsky.social
"Over 10m young Africans enter the labor force each year, but the region only creates 3m formal sector jobs."
open.substack.com/pub/kenopalo...
"Over 10m young Africans enter the labor force each year, but the region only creates 3m formal sector jobs."
open.substack.com/pub/kenopalo...
"Trust in institutions is damaged by failures of transparency, but is also damaged by increased transparency."
This paper is fascinating. Must read for anyone in knowledge producing organisations, not just scientists.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
This paper is fascinating. Must read for anyone in knowledge producing organisations, not just scientists.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Lying increases trust in science - Theory and Society
This study begins by outlining the transparency paradox: that trust in science requires transparency, but being transparent about science, medicine and government reduces trust in science. A solution ...
link.springer.com
August 28, 2025 at 6:11 AM
"Trust in institutions is damaged by failures of transparency, but is also damaged by increased transparency."
This paper is fascinating. Must read for anyone in knowledge producing organisations, not just scientists.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
This paper is fascinating. Must read for anyone in knowledge producing organisations, not just scientists.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
Let's think about zips.
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
A fascinating look into the reality of the new tariff regime hitting the globe.
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
A fascinating look into the reality of the new tariff regime hitting the globe.
Can the World’s Largest Zipper Manufacturer Survive Trump’s Tariffs?
The world’s largest zipper manufacturer has spent decades mastering the global supply chain. Now it has to weather the Trump-tariff era.
www.bloomberg.com
August 5, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Let's think about zips.
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
A fascinating look into the reality of the new tariff regime hitting the globe.
www.bloomberg.com/features/202...
A fascinating look into the reality of the new tariff regime hitting the globe.
This from noted socialist outlet the Financial Times
August 5, 2025 at 6:47 AM
This from noted socialist outlet the Financial Times
Reposted by Rowan Emslie
Nobody should be playing God with the climate right? Yet exploration of solar geoengineering by private investors looks to be zooming ahead. Unregulated. New episode with Cynthia Scharf on Europe and the implications of technologies of desperation. In partnership with @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social
Ep.118: Putting Guardrails on Playing God
Cynthia Scharf on Europe and geoengineering.
euscream.com
July 17, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Nobody should be playing God with the climate right? Yet exploration of solar geoengineering by private investors looks to be zooming ahead. Unregulated. New episode with Cynthia Scharf on Europe and the implications of technologies of desperation. In partnership with @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social
Reposted by Rowan Emslie
Can Europe move from reacting to shaping the future of tech?
Think & Do 2025: Control / Alt / Lead brings together leading voices on innovation, governance & agency.
🎤 Speakers include: Anu Bradford, Maria Farrell & Javier Espinoza
📩 Register interest: cfg.eu/event/think-...
Think & Do 2025: Control / Alt / Lead brings together leading voices on innovation, governance & agency.
🎤 Speakers include: Anu Bradford, Maria Farrell & Javier Espinoza
📩 Register interest: cfg.eu/event/think-...
July 1, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Can Europe move from reacting to shaping the future of tech?
Think & Do 2025: Control / Alt / Lead brings together leading voices on innovation, governance & agency.
🎤 Speakers include: Anu Bradford, Maria Farrell & Javier Espinoza
📩 Register interest: cfg.eu/event/think-...
Think & Do 2025: Control / Alt / Lead brings together leading voices on innovation, governance & agency.
🎤 Speakers include: Anu Bradford, Maria Farrell & Javier Espinoza
📩 Register interest: cfg.eu/event/think-...
I now have at least friends of friends status with two elected politicians.
Both connections come from having fun and spending too much time in bars when I lived in Uganda; not from my 10+ years of working in policy.
Goes to show it's really easy to over index on career planning 😄
Both connections come from having fun and spending too much time in bars when I lived in Uganda; not from my 10+ years of working in policy.
Goes to show it's really easy to over index on career planning 😄
June 25, 2025 at 4:28 PM
I now have at least friends of friends status with two elected politicians.
Both connections come from having fun and spending too much time in bars when I lived in Uganda; not from my 10+ years of working in policy.
Goes to show it's really easy to over index on career planning 😄
Both connections come from having fun and spending too much time in bars when I lived in Uganda; not from my 10+ years of working in policy.
Goes to show it's really easy to over index on career planning 😄
Wow this comes across as desperate.
How about "the bare minimum"
How about "the bare minimum"
US President Donald Trump's promise that he'll show up at next week's NATO summit in The Hague is already a diplomatic win, said a senior German general.
Trump showing up at NATO summit is already ‘a success,’ says German general
The NATO gathering will be a pared-down affair with a “very concise and crisp” one-page statement, said Maj. Gen. Stefan Schulz.
www.politico.eu
June 22, 2025 at 7:57 AM
Wow this comes across as desperate.
How about "the bare minimum"
How about "the bare minimum"
"We have to take that messy, conflicted, irrational, frustrating and human centre at the heart of the democratic process and embrace it.
We have to show that it is a feature, not a bug."
www.linkedin.com/pulse/circle...
We have to show that it is a feature, not a bug."
www.linkedin.com/pulse/circle...
The circle cannot be squared (and that's ok)
Political contradictions are the water we policy people swim in, yet we rarely acknowledge how they shape the boundaries of what's possible. If we don't claim the frustrating realities of doing politi...
www.linkedin.com
June 15, 2025 at 9:48 AM
"We have to take that messy, conflicted, irrational, frustrating and human centre at the heart of the democratic process and embrace it.
We have to show that it is a feature, not a bug."
www.linkedin.com/pulse/circle...
We have to show that it is a feature, not a bug."
www.linkedin.com/pulse/circle...
This eulogy for WTF - the first podcast I got into and one I have never quit - by @dianamoskovitz.bsky.social is a masterpiece.
defector.com/there-will-n...
defector.com/there-will-n...
There Will Never Be Another 'WTF With Marc Maron' | Defector
I heard Marc Maron announce he was ending his podcast the way that I imagine he’d’ve wanted me to—while walking through my neighborhood in Los Angeles, through wired headphones, just a little too hopp...
defector.com
June 11, 2025 at 6:32 AM
This eulogy for WTF - the first podcast I got into and one I have never quit - by @dianamoskovitz.bsky.social is a masterpiece.
defector.com/there-will-n...
defector.com/there-will-n...
As ever I am many months out of sync with the publishing schedule of @lrb.co.uk, but this piece examining Derrida's exploration of hospitality "in a world that makes a fetish of sovereignty" is incredibly apposite.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Jonathan Rée · No Foreigners: Derrida’s Hospitality
Apart from flashes of utopianism, Derrida’s conception of politics was quite old-fashioned, perhaps pre-Kantian:...
www.lrb.co.uk
June 7, 2025 at 5:38 PM
As ever I am many months out of sync with the publishing schedule of @lrb.co.uk, but this piece examining Derrida's exploration of hospitality "in a world that makes a fetish of sovereignty" is incredibly apposite.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Oh but I'm really going to miss when the crows tear apart bin bags and spread trash all over the street.
www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/159...
www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/159...
Brussels municipality considers installing underground waste bins
"Rubbish bags on the streets are out of date. We should look at the many examples of European metropolises where they put waste underground."
www.brusselstimes.com
May 27, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Oh but I'm really going to miss when the crows tear apart bin bags and spread trash all over the street.
www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/159...
www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/159...
Another day, another warning about the dangers of relying on tech imports www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
www.reuters.com
May 15, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Another day, another warning about the dangers of relying on tech imports www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
"Content algorithms are already a problem - now imagine that turbocharged with personalised brain data"
My @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social colleague outlining the extremely overlooked risks of the fast emerging neurotech sector.
#copenhagendemocracysummit
My @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social colleague outlining the extremely overlooked risks of the fast emerging neurotech sector.
#copenhagendemocracysummit
May 14, 2025 at 7:30 AM
"Content algorithms are already a problem - now imagine that turbocharged with personalised brain data"
My @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social colleague outlining the extremely overlooked risks of the fast emerging neurotech sector.
#copenhagendemocracysummit
My @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social colleague outlining the extremely overlooked risks of the fast emerging neurotech sector.
#copenhagendemocracysummit
The Tech & Democracy day at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit is kicking off.
Very proud of the @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social team for shaping the agenda today alongside @allianceofdemsorg.bsky.social
Very proud of the @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social team for shaping the agenda today alongside @allianceofdemsorg.bsky.social
May 14, 2025 at 7:17 AM
The Tech & Democracy day at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit is kicking off.
Very proud of the @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social team for shaping the agenda today alongside @allianceofdemsorg.bsky.social
Very proud of the @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social team for shaping the agenda today alongside @allianceofdemsorg.bsky.social
"Hope is not a strategy. Europe must throw off its naivity and complacency."
Former NATO SecGen opening #CopenhagenDemocracySummit with a challenge.
@allianceofdemsorg.bsky.social
Former NATO SecGen opening #CopenhagenDemocracySummit with a challenge.
@allianceofdemsorg.bsky.social
May 13, 2025 at 7:10 AM
"Hope is not a strategy. Europe must throw off its naivity and complacency."
Former NATO SecGen opening #CopenhagenDemocracySummit with a challenge.
@allianceofdemsorg.bsky.social
Former NATO SecGen opening #CopenhagenDemocracySummit with a challenge.
@allianceofdemsorg.bsky.social
Political misdirection and spillover attacks are hurting EU nonprofits at a time when the funding ecosystem is in turmoil. But now is not the time to side with the establishment.
My latest piece on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/pulse/witch-...
My latest piece on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/pulse/witch-...
A witch hunt in the cordon sanitaire
Political misdirection and spillover attacks are hurting EU nonprofits at a time when the funding ecosystem is in turmoil. The way through cannot be a retreat to the establishment, but instead to call...
www.linkedin.com
April 30, 2025 at 7:44 AM
Political misdirection and spillover attacks are hurting EU nonprofits at a time when the funding ecosystem is in turmoil. But now is not the time to side with the establishment.
My latest piece on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/pulse/witch-...
My latest piece on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/pulse/witch-...
Somebody needs to tell Tony Blair that ID cards are somehow directly connected to fighting climate change, we can turn things around.
April 30, 2025 at 7:39 AM
Somebody needs to tell Tony Blair that ID cards are somehow directly connected to fighting climate change, we can turn things around.
This piece on pregnancy in the @europeanreview.bsky.social is just so good.
europeanreviewofbooks.com/the-business...
europeanreviewofbooks.com/the-business...
April 29, 2025 at 9:31 AM
This piece on pregnancy in the @europeanreview.bsky.social is just so good.
europeanreviewofbooks.com/the-business...
europeanreviewofbooks.com/the-business...
I am quick to criticise bad reporting, so I want to do the opposite: round of applause for @thisisbartosz.bsky.social
This piece on the human-driven rise of Parkinson's is excellent www.politico.eu/article/bas-...
This piece on the human-driven rise of Parkinson's is excellent www.politico.eu/article/bas-...
‘Parkinson’s is a man-made disease’: How a chemical Europe can’t quit may be driving the disease
Europe’s flawed oversight of pesticides may be fueling a silent epidemic, warns Dutch neurologist Bas Bloem. His fight for reform pits him against industry, regulators — and time.
www.politico.eu
April 16, 2025 at 7:57 AM
I am quick to criticise bad reporting, so I want to do the opposite: round of applause for @thisisbartosz.bsky.social
This piece on the human-driven rise of Parkinson's is excellent www.politico.eu/article/bas-...
This piece on the human-driven rise of Parkinson's is excellent www.politico.eu/article/bas-...
People have been running the 'Mechanical Turk' scam since the 1770s, and it's still working.
uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/ai-shop...
uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/ai-shop...
AI shopping app found to be actually powered by Philippines call centre workers
Hundreds of human contractors were completing purchases manually for the shopping app, report says
uk.finance.yahoo.com
April 15, 2025 at 7:22 AM
People have been running the 'Mechanical Turk' scam since the 1770s, and it's still working.
uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/ai-shop...
uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/ai-shop...