Dr David R Brake
@drbrake.bsky.social
Journalist, policy wonk (transit, urban planning, EVs, climate, internet/media regulation), PhD (Media@LSE), dad, newly-adoptive Britghtonian
Telling that I thought Guilbeault had already left. Glad he fought his corner on behalf of our future for as long as he did! Sad that his leaving will probably be seen as a PR coup by this administration!
November 27, 2025 at 11:25 PM
Telling that I thought Guilbeault had already left. Glad he fought his corner on behalf of our future for as long as he did! Sad that his leaving will probably be seen as a PR coup by this administration!
He’s asked some probing questions and while I’m not convinced his answers to a few implied criticisms (mainly "where does the money come from?") fully hold up, I loved that his answers are based on clearly articulated humanistic values that I share. That's what I want in a politician and party.
Radio 4 PM: “Green Party leader Zack Polanski gives us his view on the budget - and his plans for the future.”
⏩ jump to 32m40s:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
⏩ jump to 32m40s:
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
PM - Net migration falls dramatically - BBC Sounds
UK net migration sees a significant drop in arrivals for work and study.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 27, 2025 at 9:37 PM
He’s asked some probing questions and while I’m not convinced his answers to a few implied criticisms (mainly "where does the money come from?") fully hold up, I loved that his answers are based on clearly articulated humanistic values that I share. That's what I want in a politician and party.
And of course the article's purpose? "This work presents a novel AI-based framework for ASD diagnosis and parental support".
"Runctitiononal features"? "Medical fymblal"? "1 Tol Line storee"? This gets worse the longer you look at it. But it's got to be good, because it was published in Nature Scientific Reports last week: www.nature.com/articles/s41... h/t @asa.tsbalans.se
November 27, 2025 at 7:57 PM
And of course the article's purpose? "This work presents a novel AI-based framework for ASD diagnosis and parental support".
Nothing establishes Canada's green credentials like a bitumen pipeline. Thoughtful of him to wait until after #COP30 to avoid embarrassment...
Carney caved on virtually all of Smith's demands. Updates to come.
BREAKING: Alberta gets its way in deal with Ottawa
A newly signed memorandum of understanding gives Alberta almost its entire list of demands, from the removal of regulations to the fast-tracking of a pipeline.
www.nationalobserver.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Nothing establishes Canada's green credentials like a bitumen pipeline. Thoughtful of him to wait until after #COP30 to avoid embarrassment...
🧵I usually have at least a little respect for @economist.com takes but its UK budget podcast was disappointing. Eg focus on how it "hits household spending" when the net impact on most will be neutral or positive.
www.economist.com/podcasts/202...
www.economist.com/podcasts/202...
Growth negligence: Britain’s budget
Also on the daily podcast: a revealing meeting with an Indian political force and your best job-interview questions
www.economist.com
November 27, 2025 at 4:53 PM
🧵I usually have at least a little respect for @economist.com takes but its UK budget podcast was disappointing. Eg focus on how it "hits household spending" when the net impact on most will be neutral or positive.
www.economist.com/podcasts/202...
www.economist.com/podcasts/202...
I checked out @brianphillips.bsky.social's other recent work and this piece was a letdown - mainly because it does not deliver on the headline... which is also grammatically incorrect! Probably @theringer.com.web.brid.gy's fault though. www.theringer.com/2025/11/04/t...
November 27, 2025 at 2:55 PM
I checked out @brianphillips.bsky.social's other recent work and this piece was a letdown - mainly because it does not deliver on the headline... which is also grammatically incorrect! Probably @theringer.com.web.brid.gy's fault though. www.theringer.com/2025/11/04/t...
Reposted by Dr David R Brake
For those unfamiliar, this involves:
- Cutting down trees that have sucked up carbon as they grew
- Burning them for energy
- Capturing the carbon that results from burning
- Transporting the carbon
- Injecting it underground
- Guarding it for the next few thousand years at least
- Cutting down trees that have sucked up carbon as they grew
- Burning them for energy
- Capturing the carbon that results from burning
- Transporting the carbon
- Injecting it underground
- Guarding it for the next few thousand years at least
NEW | A single carbon removal project at a biomass power station In the UK could cost £30 BILLION in government subsidies.
This would cost more than the UK government plans on spending for carbon capture programmes over 25 years.
https://loom.ly/XibxT4k
This would cost more than the UK government plans on spending for carbon capture programmes over 25 years.
https://loom.ly/XibxT4k
November 27, 2025 at 10:48 AM
For those unfamiliar, this involves:
- Cutting down trees that have sucked up carbon as they grew
- Burning them for energy
- Capturing the carbon that results from burning
- Transporting the carbon
- Injecting it underground
- Guarding it for the next few thousand years at least
- Cutting down trees that have sucked up carbon as they grew
- Burning them for energy
- Capturing the carbon that results from burning
- Transporting the carbon
- Injecting it underground
- Guarding it for the next few thousand years at least
Reposted by Dr David R Brake
Wow. BBC journalists are now not even allowed to report the censored line from my Reith Lecture, that Trump is “the most openly corrupt president in American history.”
You can hear how carefully they’re forced to tiptoe around it. So chilling...
You can hear how carefully they’re forced to tiptoe around it. So chilling...
November 27, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Wow. BBC journalists are now not even allowed to report the censored line from my Reith Lecture, that Trump is “the most openly corrupt president in American history.”
You can hear how carefully they’re forced to tiptoe around it. So chilling...
You can hear how carefully they’re forced to tiptoe around it. So chilling...
Reposted by Dr David R Brake
property rights, boo hoo. give us the fast train!
Critics worry about Liberal plan to fast-track high-speed rail | CBC News
In an effort to halve the approval time for Canada’s new high-speed rail network, the Liberal government is streamlining how it expropriates land in a way that some say could compromise property right...
www.cbc.ca
November 26, 2025 at 10:01 PM
property rights, boo hoo. give us the fast train!
Also liking Labour on the environment. If only they would admit to doing good instead of being embarrassed about it!
Huge news from the UK today: after UN climate talks in which there was a massive fight over language on fossil fuels, the UK government today announced that it will in fact be keeping many millions of barrels of oil & gas in the ground. Deeds rather than just words for a change! 🧵
November 26, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Also liking Labour on the environment. If only they would admit to doing good instead of being embarrassed about it!
Ironically this was a very good Labour budget that did some of the right things for the right reasons. If only they'd been honest about needing to do it before the election and didn't have to be forced to do some of the best bits (removing two child cap). Tax and spend is what the country needs!
November 26, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Ironically this was a very good Labour budget that did some of the right things for the right reasons. If only they'd been honest about needing to do it before the election and didn't have to be forced to do some of the best bits (removing two child cap). Tax and spend is what the country needs!
Reposted by Dr David R Brake
REPORTER: What kind of concessions is Hitler and the Germans going to have to make?
CHAMBERLAIN: The big concession is they stop fighting and they don't take any more land.
CHAMBERLAIN: The big concession is they stop fighting and they don't take any more land.
REPORTER: What kind of concessions are the Russians going to have to make?
TRUMP: The big concession is they stop fighting and they don't take any more land
TRUMP: The big concession is they stop fighting and they don't take any more land
November 26, 2025 at 12:46 AM
REPORTER: What kind of concessions is Hitler and the Germans going to have to make?
CHAMBERLAIN: The big concession is they stop fighting and they don't take any more land.
CHAMBERLAIN: The big concession is they stop fighting and they don't take any more land.
Reposted by Dr David R Brake
Frustrating to see the fuel duty cut extended again. This is a policy that benefits the richest households much more than the poorest as they spend more on petrol. That's without even accounting for the environmental impact.
November 26, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Frustrating to see the fuel duty cut extended again. This is a policy that benefits the richest households much more than the poorest as they spend more on petrol. That's without even accounting for the environmental impact.
Every time I saw any of the people mentioned it was always obliquely and I never really understood what this whole thing was all about. Now I do. Though I wish I didn't. But Brian Phillips is that rare journalistic trifecta - a brilliant stylist who also writes clearly and researches thoroughly.
People are calling my lede here "appalling," "nightmare fuel," "actively evil," and "a desecration of the human spirit"
The Olivia Nuzzi and RFK Jr. Affair Is Messier Than We Ever Could Have Imagined
Inside the most important, and also least important, story of our time
www.theringer.com
November 26, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Every time I saw any of the people mentioned it was always obliquely and I never really understood what this whole thing was all about. Now I do. Though I wish I didn't. But Brian Phillips is that rare journalistic trifecta - a brilliant stylist who also writes clearly and researches thoroughly.
Kind of ironic given the Scouts' rather weird history as a quasi-militaristic organization that in the US did not allow "out" homosexual men to be scout leaders until 2015.
It's much simpler than that. The Boy Scouts aren't maximally cruel to trans kids and so Republicans believe it should be destroyed.
Hegseth is very very terrified, deep deep down of something to do with maleness www.npr.org/2025/11/25/n...
November 25, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Kind of ironic given the Scouts' rather weird history as a quasi-militaristic organization that in the US did not allow "out" homosexual men to be scout leaders until 2015.
This is completely inexcusable. @rutgerbregman.com was invited by the BBC to give a speech for broadcast. He expressed a personal opinion (one with plenty of evidence and support!) about a very public figure and it was censored? It's heading to farcical Gerry Adams territory.
NEWS --> BBC confirms to me that they did edit a line out of historian @rutgerbregman.com's speech. It called Trump "the most openly corrupt president in US history."
BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
BBC also confirms this was done on the advice of lawyers. So Trump's threats worked.
New piece:
newrepublic.com/article/2036...
Trump’s Fury at BBC Gets Unnerving Results with Pro-MAGA Edit Stunner
First, British Broadcasting Corporation execs resigned after Trump complained about a segment. Now the BBC edited out a line from a historian that was critical of Trump. Where does this end?
newrepublic.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:29 PM
This is completely inexcusable. @rutgerbregman.com was invited by the BBC to give a speech for broadcast. He expressed a personal opinion (one with plenty of evidence and support!) about a very public figure and it was censored? It's heading to farcical Gerry Adams territory.
Maybe the kids are all right?
November 25, 2025 at 7:16 PM
Maybe the kids are all right?
I am not sure I would want to try walking or cycling through along that road either TBH!
when we say we want more streets to be pedestrianized, this is what we mean
November 25, 2025 at 7:14 PM
I am not sure I would want to try walking or cycling through along that road either TBH!
Reposted by Dr David R Brake
UK gambling industry made £15.6bn in 2024 (£16.8bn in 2025)
Most companies holed up in Gibraltar & Malta, dodge UK taxes. Some pay corporation tax at the rate of 3%-4%. No VAT on gambling.
Public bears the cost of gambling addiction.
Firms resent paying extra tax to clear their mess.
Tax them.
Most companies holed up in Gibraltar & Malta, dodge UK taxes. Some pay corporation tax at the rate of 3%-4%. No VAT on gambling.
Public bears the cost of gambling addiction.
Firms resent paying extra tax to clear their mess.
Tax them.
UK's Online Gambling Industry: The £3.8 Billion Tax Question Nobody's Answering
UK's online gambling industry generates £15.6bn annually but pays minimal tax. With £3.8bn in receipts, experts say it's time for reform Here's why.
www.thelondoneconomic.com
November 25, 2025 at 5:57 PM
UK gambling industry made £15.6bn in 2024 (£16.8bn in 2025)
Most companies holed up in Gibraltar & Malta, dodge UK taxes. Some pay corporation tax at the rate of 3%-4%. No VAT on gambling.
Public bears the cost of gambling addiction.
Firms resent paying extra tax to clear their mess.
Tax them.
Most companies holed up in Gibraltar & Malta, dodge UK taxes. Some pay corporation tax at the rate of 3%-4%. No VAT on gambling.
Public bears the cost of gambling addiction.
Firms resent paying extra tax to clear their mess.
Tax them.
Reposted by Dr David R Brake
Founders on LinkedIn still seem to be struggling with the difference between telling people about their humble beginnings and admitting to straight up committing fraud.
November 24, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Founders on LinkedIn still seem to be struggling with the difference between telling people about their humble beginnings and admitting to straight up committing fraud.
Reposted by Dr David R Brake
One of the changes that OpenAI has made to make ChatGPT safer is a "take a break" nudge. There's something quite interesting about the design here. Which thing does it make you want to click?
November 24, 2025 at 1:52 PM
One of the changes that OpenAI has made to make ChatGPT safer is a "take a break" nudge. There's something quite interesting about the design here. Which thing does it make you want to click?
Reposted by Dr David R Brake
You know what, I'm just gonna re-up this post
November 24, 2025 at 3:04 PM
You know what, I'm just gonna re-up this post
Reposted by Dr David R Brake
lol I went from and iPhone 7 to an iPhone 16 and I intend to make this one last just as long
My Cintiq is at least 15 years old, Wacom doesn't even have its drivers easily accessible anymore
My PCs last about 10 years on average
I AM IMMUNE TO YOUR PLEAS, CNBC
My Cintiq is at least 15 years old, Wacom doesn't even have its drivers easily accessible anymore
My PCs last about 10 years on average
I AM IMMUNE TO YOUR PLEAS, CNBC
www.cnbc.com/2025/11/23/h... "please, buy new phone. the economy is dying" is an incredible gaslight
Americans are holding onto devices longer than ever and it's costing economy
Americans are holding onto devices longer than ever before, and while it may be consumer smart, it comes at a cost to work productivity and the U.S. economy.
www.cnbc.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:12 AM
lol I went from and iPhone 7 to an iPhone 16 and I intend to make this one last just as long
My Cintiq is at least 15 years old, Wacom doesn't even have its drivers easily accessible anymore
My PCs last about 10 years on average
I AM IMMUNE TO YOUR PLEAS, CNBC
My Cintiq is at least 15 years old, Wacom doesn't even have its drivers easily accessible anymore
My PCs last about 10 years on average
I AM IMMUNE TO YOUR PLEAS, CNBC
Reposted by Dr David R Brake
*banging a metal pot with a wooden spoon very loudly*
people want to LISTEN to podcasts!!!!!!!!!!!!
*hitting you on the forehead with the spoon*
STOP PIVOTING TO VIDEO
www.westwoodone.com/blog/2025/11...
people want to LISTEN to podcasts!!!!!!!!!!!!
*hitting you on the forehead with the spoon*
STOP PIVOTING TO VIDEO
www.westwoodone.com/blog/2025/11...
November 21, 2025 at 6:28 PM
*banging a metal pot with a wooden spoon very loudly*
people want to LISTEN to podcasts!!!!!!!!!!!!
*hitting you on the forehead with the spoon*
STOP PIVOTING TO VIDEO
www.westwoodone.com/blog/2025/11...
people want to LISTEN to podcasts!!!!!!!!!!!!
*hitting you on the forehead with the spoon*
STOP PIVOTING TO VIDEO
www.westwoodone.com/blog/2025/11...
“extremely short exposures to a relatively simple computer program could induce powerful delusional thinking in quite normal people." said creator of the first Chatbot in 1976. But OpenAI, “had never studied its users’ emotional attachment to ChatGPT before” 2024?! www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...
What OpenAI Did When ChatGPT Users Lost Touch With Reality
www.nytimes.com
November 23, 2025 at 11:05 PM
“extremely short exposures to a relatively simple computer program could induce powerful delusional thinking in quite normal people." said creator of the first Chatbot in 1976. But OpenAI, “had never studied its users’ emotional attachment to ChatGPT before” 2024?! www.nytimes.com/2025/11/23/t...