Daniel Knowles
@dlknowles.bsky.social
Midwest correspondent at The Economist, in Chicago. Before that, in London, Mumbai, Nairobi and DC.
Buy my book: http://shorturl.at/BJOUV
Buy my book: http://shorturl.at/BJOUV
Pinned
Daniel Knowles
@dlknowles.bsky.social
· Oct 9
Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport
Pedal power is booming, spinning up a new culture war
www.economist.com
By me this week - the happiest thing I've got to report of late, with a glorious trip over the summer to Montreal
"Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport."
www.economist.com/internationa...
"Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport."
www.economist.com/internationa...
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
NEW:
The DOJ tells Judge James Boasberg that Kristi Noem made the decision that flights that had departed should continue on to El Salvador, in contravention of the court’s orders.
The DOJ tells Judge James Boasberg that Kristi Noem made the decision that flights that had departed should continue on to El Salvador, in contravention of the court’s orders.
BREAKING:
“After receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador. “
“After receiving that legal advice, Secretary Noem directed that the AEA detainees who had been removed from the United States before the Court’s order could be transferred to the custody of El Salvador. “
November 26, 2025 at 1:35 AM
NEW:
The DOJ tells Judge James Boasberg that Kristi Noem made the decision that flights that had departed should continue on to El Salvador, in contravention of the court’s orders.
The DOJ tells Judge James Boasberg that Kristi Noem made the decision that flights that had departed should continue on to El Salvador, in contravention of the court’s orders.
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
New: A federal judge in California ruled that Trump's administration cannot impose mandatory detention on thousands of migrants held by U.S. immigration authorities nationally without first giving them an opportunity to seek release on bond. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
www.reuters.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:55 PM
New: A federal judge in California ruled that Trump's administration cannot impose mandatory detention on thousands of migrants held by U.S. immigration authorities nationally without first giving them an opportunity to seek release on bond. www.reuters.com/legal/govern...
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
If I pointed a loaded assault rifle at someone in the street with the obvious intent of intimidating them, I would be arrested and charged with assault (or worse).
November 26, 2025 at 4:35 AM
If I pointed a loaded assault rifle at someone in the street with the obvious intent of intimidating them, I would be arrested and charged with assault (or worse).
Really just fantastic reporting by @matinastevis.bsky.social today: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/w...
She Tried to Leave America. She Entered an Immigration Hall of Mirrors.
www.nytimes.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Really just fantastic reporting by @matinastevis.bsky.social today: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/w...
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
an underrated part of the British crisis is that the justice system is under massive strain, not least because criminal barristers are often being paid *less for taking a case than their costs in doing so.*.
www.theguardian.com/law/2022/aug...
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
www.theguardian.com/law/2022/aug...
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
David Lammy considers scrapping jury trials for all but the most serious cases
Senior lawyers criticise justice secretary’s radical plan, saying it could ‘destroy justice as we know it’
www.theguardian.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:12 PM
an underrated part of the British crisis is that the justice system is under massive strain, not least because criminal barristers are often being paid *less for taking a case than their costs in doing so.*.
www.theguardian.com/law/2022/aug...
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
www.theguardian.com/law/2022/aug...
www.theguardian.com/law/2025/nov...
The left conviction that you don't need broad based taxes to support public services is a giant problem not only in Britain
My pre-budget take for the LSE Politics blog is up:
Labour are unable to articulate any vision or sense of purpose.
Much of the left has convinced itself that government spending can be maintained without broad-based tax increases.
Not a great budget backdrop.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Labour are unable to articulate any vision or sense of purpose.
Much of the left has convinced itself that government spending can be maintained without broad-based tax increases.
Not a great budget backdrop.
blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Wealth tax and looser fiscal rules won’t save the Budget | British Politics and Policy at LSE
The narrative on the left that a wealth tax and looser fiscal rules would solve the Chancellor's 2025 Budget headaches has got out of hand.
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 25, 2025 at 5:19 PM
The left conviction that you don't need broad based taxes to support public services is a giant problem not only in Britain
November 25, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Kagi is a very good alternative search engine to Google
I keep saying, Google intentionally making its search worse is a world-historical fumble, and it's a huge opportunity for so many others across the internet, if they'll just seize it..
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
November 25, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Kagi is a very good alternative search engine to Google
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
You get the reverse of this on the right, where someone dislikes capitalism, but believes that what they object to is 'modernity'.
November 24, 2025 at 12:51 PM
You get the reverse of this on the right, where someone dislikes capitalism, but believes that what they object to is 'modernity'.
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
Meta’s data-center accounting gets the Jon Weil treatment:
It’s “financed with debt, and neither the data center nor the debt will be on its own balance sheet. That outcome looks too good to be true, and it probably is.”
@wsj.com $META
www.wsj.com/tech/meta-ai...
It’s “financed with debt, and neither the data center nor the debt will be on its own balance sheet. That outcome looks too good to be true, and it probably is.”
@wsj.com $META
www.wsj.com/tech/meta-ai...
November 24, 2025 at 10:59 AM
Meta’s data-center accounting gets the Jon Weil treatment:
It’s “financed with debt, and neither the data center nor the debt will be on its own balance sheet. That outcome looks too good to be true, and it probably is.”
@wsj.com $META
www.wsj.com/tech/meta-ai...
It’s “financed with debt, and neither the data center nor the debt will be on its own balance sheet. That outcome looks too good to be true, and it probably is.”
@wsj.com $META
www.wsj.com/tech/meta-ai...
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
siepr.stanford.edu
November 24, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Still reeling from the Stanford report on Brexit. Reduced GDP by up to 8% and investment by as much as 18%. The UK Treasury would have £40 billion more each year if Britain had remained in the EU. Devastating self-immolation.
I'm in a vintage store with a bunch of old Playboy magazines from the '80s.
A vision of the beauty of long-gone ages.
That is, the damn things are an inch thick, packed with full-page ads. Journalism was so lucrative
A vision of the beauty of long-gone ages.
That is, the damn things are an inch thick, packed with full-page ads. Journalism was so lucrative
November 23, 2025 at 7:06 PM
I'm in a vintage store with a bunch of old Playboy magazines from the '80s.
A vision of the beauty of long-gone ages.
That is, the damn things are an inch thick, packed with full-page ads. Journalism was so lucrative
A vision of the beauty of long-gone ages.
That is, the damn things are an inch thick, packed with full-page ads. Journalism was so lucrative
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
I had a popular account with a valuable audience and my Twitter payout was $80 a month-ish, to the point where I disabled monetization instead of uploading my ID. Payouts are only material if you live in a developing country, so “guy in Nigeria posting right-wing Amerislop” has taken over the site.
Twitter pays people based on engagement (views, retweets, comments, etc). It appears that many MAGA accounts are based abroad and they use AI technology to generate low-effort rage bait.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
My guess is that this will get worse as AI tech improves. For instance, fake videos of minorities doing crime.
November 23, 2025 at 3:31 PM
I had a popular account with a valuable audience and my Twitter payout was $80 a month-ish, to the point where I disabled monetization instead of uploading my ID. Payouts are only material if you live in a developing country, so “guy in Nigeria posting right-wing Amerislop” has taken over the site.
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
We came to LA as refugees from the USSR in 1991. Life wasn’t easy, but we persevered and, I dare say, came to contribute something of worth to this nation.
Had I experienced the following when I was a boy, I don’t know what would have become of me.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Had I experienced the following when I was a boy, I don’t know what would have become of me.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
November 14, 2025 at 5:34 PM
We came to LA as refugees from the USSR in 1991. Life wasn’t easy, but we persevered and, I dare say, came to contribute something of worth to this nation.
Had I experienced the following when I was a boy, I don’t know what would have become of me.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Had I experienced the following when I was a boy, I don’t know what would have become of me.
www.latimes.com/california/s...
Just had one of those very millennial experiences where I turned up at a friend's housewarming party after dinner, but on the way from dinner my phone died, and though I could hear the party, I couldn't get anyone to just *answer the door*, so I ended up walking home
November 23, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Just had one of those very millennial experiences where I turned up at a friend's housewarming party after dinner, but on the way from dinner my phone died, and though I could hear the party, I couldn't get anyone to just *answer the door*, so I ended up walking home
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
A video from inside a Border Patrol vehicle shows agents chasing a US citizen for filming them. The citizen refused to get out when they illegally ordered him to stop. The agents say: "This is great." "This is fun." "He's going to get shot."
November 22, 2025 at 9:58 PM
A video from inside a Border Patrol vehicle shows agents chasing a US citizen for filming them. The citizen refused to get out when they illegally ordered him to stop. The agents say: "This is great." "This is fun." "He's going to get shot."
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
Eat more chicken
November 22, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Eat more chicken
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
A very good piece. “The fact that many men believe they no longer even have to pretend to respect women in order to participate in public life makes it unlikely that anything will change anytime soon.”
President Piggy
This is what consequence-free misogyny looks like.
www.theatlantic.com
November 22, 2025 at 9:27 PM
A very good piece. “The fact that many men believe they no longer even have to pretend to respect women in order to participate in public life makes it unlikely that anything will change anytime soon.”
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
By American standards, the Paris suburbs still have a crazy high population density. Here's a map I made a while back comparing it to Chicago.
November 22, 2025 at 9:13 PM
By American standards, the Paris suburbs still have a crazy high population density. Here's a map I made a while back comparing it to Chicago.
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
Between the shutdown, the drops in bitcoin and some speculative stocks, the electoral losses, and maybe a shift in the economy it does seem like Trump lost the new part of his coalition over the past month (plus some true believers like MTG):
November 22, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Between the shutdown, the drops in bitcoin and some speculative stocks, the electoral losses, and maybe a shift in the economy it does seem like Trump lost the new part of his coalition over the past month (plus some true believers like MTG):
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
You see this also with the “we have to reduce immigration or racism will get worse”. The average person who thinks immigration is too high does not think that makes gutter racism ok and does not agree with, e.g. “let’s do a Partition scale ethnic cleansing in the UK”.
Sorry to keep banging on about it but it's literally *they are on Twitter and think it's the majority view*
This is pretty striking and makes me wonder exactly what Labour have been up to in making policy seemingly in response to / fear of the former rather than the middle group.
November 22, 2025 at 8:17 PM
You see this also with the “we have to reduce immigration or racism will get worse”. The average person who thinks immigration is too high does not think that makes gutter racism ok and does not agree with, e.g. “let’s do a Partition scale ethnic cleansing in the UK”.
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
It's finally here! "Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves From the Tyranny of the Automobile" is now available wherever you buy books. Thank you to everyone who has made this day possible, including our amazing podcast listeners. We hope everyone finds the book valuable!
www.lifeaftercars.com
www.lifeaftercars.com
October 21, 2025 at 11:41 AM
It's finally here! "Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves From the Tyranny of the Automobile" is now available wherever you buy books. Thank you to everyone who has made this day possible, including our amazing podcast listeners. We hope everyone finds the book valuable!
www.lifeaftercars.com
www.lifeaftercars.com
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
On the patently unlawful boat strikes
It's hard for USGs to claim ‘mistake of law’ or ‘advice of counsel’ – when they’re firing lawyers who wouldn't sign off on the strikes.
WaPo's new revelations on firings or removals:
1) CIA General Counsel
2) NSC Legal Adviser
3) CIA Mission Center’s lawyer
🧵
It's hard for USGs to claim ‘mistake of law’ or ‘advice of counsel’ – when they’re firing lawyers who wouldn't sign off on the strikes.
WaPo's new revelations on firings or removals:
1) CIA General Counsel
2) NSC Legal Adviser
3) CIA Mission Center’s lawyer
🧵
White House blew past legal concerns in deadly strikes on drug boats
The Trump administration sidestepped skeptical lawyers across national security agencies as it pursued a military campaign against alleged narcotraffickers, officials say.
www.washingtonpost.com
November 22, 2025 at 3:10 PM
On the patently unlawful boat strikes
It's hard for USGs to claim ‘mistake of law’ or ‘advice of counsel’ – when they’re firing lawyers who wouldn't sign off on the strikes.
WaPo's new revelations on firings or removals:
1) CIA General Counsel
2) NSC Legal Adviser
3) CIA Mission Center’s lawyer
🧵
It's hard for USGs to claim ‘mistake of law’ or ‘advice of counsel’ – when they’re firing lawyers who wouldn't sign off on the strikes.
WaPo's new revelations on firings or removals:
1) CIA General Counsel
2) NSC Legal Adviser
3) CIA Mission Center’s lawyer
🧵
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
A surprising number of people are overcomplicating “there is obviously a policy case that knocking down these first two buildings (on the same stretch of road) and replacing them with buildings the same height as the next two can be a win:win proposition!”
November 22, 2025 at 3:23 PM
A surprising number of people are overcomplicating “there is obviously a policy case that knocking down these first two buildings (on the same stretch of road) and replacing them with buildings the same height as the next two can be a win:win proposition!”