Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Alex Selby-Boothroyd

@alexselbyb.bsky.social

13K followers 1.3K following 2K posts

Head of data journalism at The Economist

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · Nov 18

Day 18 #30DayMapChallenge
I 3D-printed John Snow's 1854 cholera map of Soho. It took ages.

3D-printed map of Soho in 1854. Black marks on top of the buildings represent deaths from cholera caused by infected water from the Broad Street Pump (note the missing handle!). Top-down view.

35 150 690

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 2h

Shamefully no, I just grabbed the first free vectors I could find

1 1

Reposted by Alex Selby-Boothroyd

Tom Standage @tomstandage.bsky.social · 5h

(This is the in-house band at The Economist, which is called “The Invisible Hands”)

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 16d

The amazing band at the @economist.com party has @alexselbyb.bsky.social on sax and @tomstandage.bsky.social on drums

4 20

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 6h

I lasered(?) some decorations for the Halloween-obsessed kid to take to a Halloween party

2 1 7

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 6h

www.economist.com/interactive/...

Weekend crossword for Oct 11th 2025

A weekend crossword based on the week’s news

www.economist.com

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 6h

In addition to our daily mini crossword, @economist.com now has a weekend 15x15 cryptic. Try your hand at this one, set by the magnificently monickered Playfair (@petermoorefuller.bsky.social)

www.economist.com/interactive/...

The Economist's 15x15 cryptic crossword grid

Across clues:
Fare for voyage once taken from Shanghai to Osaka? (4,4)
Somehow Germans see inadequacy (10)
Manager acquiring first bit of intelligent office equipment (6)
Foolish setter’s anger about European Commission (8)
Disgusting thin porridge unfinished by certain people (8)
Admiral’s command to provide weapon to a US court official (6)
Cool place to keep bits (4,6)
Flipping allegiance to secure vote to leave (4)
Possesses dresses but not a shred of gingham (4)
Relating to pressure from erratic mob on the move (10)
Major issues in verbal contract for loparite? (6)
Card game where black six is wild (8)
Relax, time available includes an extra date (1st of Nov) (4,4)
Scruffy boat and Royal Navy ship interlocked - handles awkwardly! (6)
King and Playfair on motorway North with consort in a terrible way (10)

Down clues:
Mysterious object regularly spotted in outflow (3)
Belief in know-nothingism holding back sharp tool (5)
Dramatist’s horse getting despondent (7)
One let a man in lycra out? That’s gutsy! (10,5)
Grab ice, crushed, as protection for 5d (7)
Back working with “company men” in Montana - I can’t talk about it (2,7)
LIV Golf and friends developing feature for hi-tech carts? (4,7)
Hardworking US rider pulled muscle in overseas contest right after 2016 Olympics (4,7)
City leaders in annual meeting still terribly angry about uprising (9)
Everyone in favour getting party decoration (7)
On the whole, Playfair interjects in a slightly wet fashion (7)
This could be called offensive, almost, and very loud (5)
Little sibling’s world turned upside down (3)

3 1 11

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 8h

sun-elicited dock pic

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 10h

Mildly obsessed with this song by Labi Siffre

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 21h

Blue Lights has quietly become one of the best shows on TV

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 2d

Still got it!

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 2d

I also love that New York has a “rat tsar”—or did have until she resigned recently with no explanation
www.economist.com/united-state...

Rats and charts

A data-rich look at New York’s battle against rodents

www.economist.com

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 2d

Love this rat map
www.economist.com/united-state...

Map from The Economist showing reported rat sightings before and after a trash-container programme in Hamilton Heights, New York City

6 9 62

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 2d

In case you're inexplicably stuck
www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Britain mourns its bonkbuster queen

Jilly Cooper, the author who gave the world sex, horses—and joy—has died

www.economist.com

1 2

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 2d

Not the only appearance of "bonkbuster" in The Economist this week...
www.economist.com/interactive/...

Economist mini crossword, 1 down: She invented the "bonkbuster", or jolly epic novel (5,6)

1 2

Reposted by Alex Selby-Boothroyd

Archie Hall @archiehall.bsky.social · 4d

For the first time in about 70 years, net immigration to America could be zero. Beneath the noise of tariff and budget fights, migration may well be the biggest economic story of 2025.

My latest for @economist.com: Welcome to Zero Migration America

Link: www.economist.com/finance-and...

🧵 below

5 30 70

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 4d

How many has he had today??
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, is under intense pressure to call snap parliamentary elections or resign as former allies join his opponents in demanding he act to end a spiralling political crisis in the EU’s second biggest economy.

Macron’s first prime minister on Tuesday urged the president to step down amid mounting frustration even within the president’s own camp over one of the worst spells of political chaos in France since the foundation of its Fifth Republic in 1958.

3 12

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 4d

They wouldn't have won if the committee hadn't looked at their research
www.newscientist.com/article/2499...

Nobel prize for physics goes to trio behind quantum computing chips

The 2025 Nobel prize in physics has gone to three researchers, John Clarke, Michel Devoret and John Martinis, whose work has led to the development of today's quantum computers.

www.newscientist.com

1 5

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 5d

www.economist.com/business/202...

J. Edgar Hoover, the first director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was a darkly authoritarian figure. During his 48-year reign at the FBI and its forerunner, he exercised personal oversight over decisions large and small, from wiretaps to dress codes. Control bred unthinking obedience. When Hoover once scrawled “Watch the borders” on one of the memoranda that passed across his desk, agents were reportedly dispatched to America’s frontiers with Mexico and Canada. It turned out that he was in fact concerned about the width of the margins on the document.

7 16

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 5d

Rangers FC needs a new manager, France needs a new prime minister, there's an obvious solution here

List of managers of Rangers FC. They are now looking for their fourth this year.

List of prime ministers of France. They are looking for their fourth in the past 12 months.

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 6d

For sale: phone with the old Twitter logo, will exchange for plastic bottle with detachable lid

2 11

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 6d

Many thanks, this will be on its way to you in the morning!

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 6d

Bit weird, it says 33 years ago but 1992 was only ten years ago, right?

R.E.M. @remhq.bsky.social · 6d

Released 33 years ago—Oct. 5-6, 1992. Share your favorite track in the comments!

1 11

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 6d

Some nic(h)e reviews on Etsy
3dartmaps.etsy.com/listing/4300...

Five star review for my 3D-printed John Snow map on Etsy: "For the medical data scientist who has everything."

Five-star review for my 3D-printed John Snow map on Etsy: "Perhaps there is but a small niche that would appreciate an artisanal version of an historic data visualization, but I'm right in the middle of it. Saw a video where the last step before framing is to snip the handle from the pump - chefs kiss perfection. My absolute favorite rendition of this classic. Bravo."

1 2 16

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 6d

Flower arranging is more stabby than I thought

1 24

Reposted by Alex Selby-Boothroyd

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 7d

‘The average man travelled 8,245 miles in 2002 and 6,549 miles in 2024—a drop of 21%. Almost the entire fall was caused by a decline in driving.’ Such an interesting piece
economist.com/britain/2025...

British men are driving less, and a culture is vanishing

Farewell to the road warriors

economist.com

5 14 65

Alex Selby-Boothroyd @alexselbyb.bsky.social · 7d

Also, petition to include managers in speculative red-card bets