Stephan Faris
stephanfaris.bsky.social
Stephan Faris
@stephanfaris.bsky.social
Associate editor, Enterprise, POLITICO Europe. On the trail of Joan of Arc.
“Yes, my darling, I was thinking about you too… and how good you’d look leaning against my *Ford F-150*, sipping a *Miller Lite* under the *Visit Austin, Texas* city lights.”

ChatGPT ads are coming – and they won’t look like Google Ads searchengineland.com/chatgpt-ads-...
ChatGPT ads are coming – and they won’t look like Google Ads
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says Google’s ad model profits when search fails – and vows ChatGPT will take a different approach to ads and commerce.
searchengineland.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:11 PM
If my math is right, this article is claiming that French people ate on average more than 3.5 baguettes a day.

The good old days, indeed!

The baguette faces an uncertain future. How France is rethinking its iconic loaves
edition.cnn.com/2025/11/08/t...
November 10, 2025 at 6:37 AM
Reposted by Stephan Faris
Great fame can be obtained
By routing an army
With oxen carrying
Burning straw on their horns.
But after all, it is
No more important than
The tracks of sandpipers
On a wave washed beach.
Days go by and become
A year and I am too
Lazy to notice.

—from "Autumn Thoughts" by Lu Yu
November 2, 2025 at 2:10 AM
Never travel without a fully stocked first aid kit
A French cyclist survived for three days after a horrendous 130-foot fall into a ravine, kept alive by the bottles of red wine he had in his shopping bag, police said.
Cyclist falls down 130-foot ravine in France, survives 3 days by drinking wine he had in shopping bag
A helicopter airlifted him to hospital, with a rescue doctor calling his survival "a miracle."
cbsn.ws
October 31, 2025 at 4:24 PM
Reposted by Stephan Faris
France’s social, economic, cultural, religious and political divisions offer fertile ground for the Kremlin’s interference, several policymakers, academics and military officers told POLITICO. Story with @msolletty.bsky.social

www.politico.eu/article/red-...
Red hands and pig heads: Russia’s plan to destabilize France goes on trial
Paris has emerged as a top target of Moscow’s hybrid war.
www.politico.eu
October 29, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Stephan Faris
When Clare Daly launched her re-election bid last year, Catherine Connolly sat at her right hand.
“I wish I could canvass every day for her on the streets,” Connolly said.
Will Connolly use the presidential platform in a similar way to how Daly used hers?
My piece:
www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...
How is Catherine Connolly likely to approach foreign policy as president?
A precedent for outspokenness, set by Michael D Higgins, now seems to be a baseline minimum
www.irishtimes.com
October 28, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Amazing that the use case being promoted by the largest AI companies is exactly the one for which the technology is least suited.

AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time

www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/...
Largest study of its kind shows AI assistants misrepresent news content 45% of the time – regardless of language or territory
An intensive international study was coordinated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and led by the BBC
www.bbc.co.uk
October 26, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Reposted by Stephan Faris
A neat tool I just came across: Viabundus, a digital road map of northern Europe 1350-1650, that lets you calculate contemporary travel routes/times. In 1500, going Amiens → Köln by horse took almost 7 days and 13 toll payments.

#medievalsky

www.landesgeschichte.uni-goettingen.de/handelsstras...
October 24, 2025 at 10:58 PM
Reposted by Stephan Faris
Less than a week from now the #Netherlands will elect a new government. Ahead in the polls is the far-right PVV — widely known for its anti-Islam rhetoric, less known for this: the party has only one formal member who makes all the decisions. Guess who. My story:
www.politico.eu/article/geer...
Geert Wilders’ one-man rule — and what that means for the Dutch
How Europe’s smallest party became the Netherlands’ largest political force.
www.politico.eu
October 24, 2025 at 8:35 AM
Spotted in Sardinia 😢
October 21, 2025 at 6:57 PM
It's a what-if-we're-the-baddies tattoo
October 21, 2025 at 6:22 PM
This is delightful.

“The comedians on that stage are performing in a gilded cage,” the exiled Saudi satirist Ghanem al-Masarir wrote before the festival, adding, “In MBS’s Saudi Arabia, the punchline is always prison.”

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
I Watched Stand-Up in Saudi Arabia
What the surreal Riyadh Comedy Festival foretold about the kingdom’s future
www.theatlantic.com
October 17, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Geert Wilders’ one-man rule — and what that means for the Dutch

How Europe’s smallest party became the Netherlands’ largest political force.

By @evahartog.bsky.social
www.politico.eu/article/geer...
Geert Wilders’ one-man rule — and what that means for the Dutch
How Europe’s smallest party became the Netherlands’ largest political force.
www.politico.eu
October 16, 2025 at 7:08 AM
Just going to sit down, watch a movie, take my mind off of current events.

Oh.

youtube.com/watch?v=_wpw...
A HOUSE OF DYNAMITE | Official Trailer | Netflix
YouTube video by Netflix
youtube.com
October 15, 2025 at 7:07 AM
50 Cent Adjusted for Inflation
109 Cent
50centadjustedforinflation.com
October 15, 2025 at 7:04 AM
Drank a room temperature coke today.

Ice was available.

I've gone fully European.
October 14, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Juncker still undefeated
October 13, 2025 at 4:07 PM
Reposted by Stephan Faris
I've been a bit sceptical of the "exodus of US-based academics to Europe" thing, but this is a notable move.
I am delighted to share that Nobel laureates Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee will join our Department of Economics @econ.uzh.ch at the University of Zurich on July 1, 2026, as Lemann Foundation Professors of Economics.

🧵 1/7
October 10, 2025 at 9:37 AM
Negotiating to have my salary paid in Labubus.
What is the graphics department at the Wall Street Journal smoking?! An insane infographic 🤣🤣🤣 Needless to say I approve!
October 10, 2025 at 6:29 AM
Reposted by Stephan Faris
The Pope says: "Subscribe".
October 9, 2025 at 2:50 PM
“We have a continent that has experienced war, lockdown, a kind of light dictatorship in Budapest, we are used to continuing to function with a lot of shocks” said a European Commission official

But “Le Pen is different.”

www.politico.eu/article/brus...
The EU’s worst nightmare has never looked so real
If the far right gains control of parliament in the EU’s second-largest country, Europe will fundamentally change.
www.politico.eu
October 9, 2025 at 11:54 AM
Latest Brussels scandal just dropped

Commission to probe reports that Orbán’s spies targeted EU officials in Brussels www.politico.eu/article/orba...
Commission to probe reports that Orbán’s spies targeted EU officials in Brussels
Hungary’s current European Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi was in charge of the country’s embassy at the time of the allegations.
www.politico.eu
October 9, 2025 at 11:37 AM
Reposted by Stephan Faris
Tired: Trump gets the Peace Prize.

Wired: Trump gets the Nobel for literature for his Truth Social posts.
October 9, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Reposted by Stephan Faris
there is a whole wave of 2010-20 era leaders who seemed impressive while in office but in retrospect glossed over structural problems and helped dig the world into its current hole. Merkel, Rutte, Obama, Cameron, Trudeau…
October 8, 2025 at 7:29 AM