Jonn Elledge
@jonnelledge.bsky.social
#1 Sunday Times bestselling author, because apparently that matters. New Statesman, New World, Oh God What Now, The Newsletter of (Not Quite) Everything, Paper Cuts (RIP). Londoner. *Not* an American.
Pinned
A History of the World in 47 Borders by Jonn Elledge signed & dedicated edition. DISPATCHES PRE-CHRISTMAS
Only available to order until 5 December. Jonn will sign and dedicate all the books at Backstory and they will be dispatched to arrive by Christmas. People have been drawing lines on maps for as long ...
backstory.london
Last night at a fashionable media party (tm) someone introduced me to their dad, for whom she'd bought a copy of 47 Borders and got me to sign it. Happy smiles all round! Aww.
If a dad YOU know would like a signed book this Christmas, then the lovely people at Backstory Balham can help:
If a dad YOU know would like a signed book this Christmas, then the lovely people at Backstory Balham can help:
Reposted by Jonn Elledge
I think this is a very important point in yimby discourse: people say they don’t like densification but in London at least the densification is happening anyway. It happens via house shares, kids living in parents houses forever etc. you get the densification with or without more housing!
A long time ago Ian Mulherin made this chart and this is densification. That part is already happening! Look at the line for London!
November 22, 2025 at 11:04 AM
I think this is a very important point in yimby discourse: people say they don’t like densification but in London at least the densification is happening anyway. It happens via house shares, kids living in parents houses forever etc. you get the densification with or without more housing!
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Budget day at last.
November 26, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Budget day at last.
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There's an advert on his website for a 'Depot Supervisor' that pays £12.75 an hour for shift work.
If he wants to reduce welfare spending maybe he should pay staff enough that they don't need in-work benefits.
If he wants to reduce welfare spending maybe he should pay staff enough that they don't need in-work benefits.
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
www.independent.co.uk
November 25, 2025 at 12:46 PM
There's an advert on his website for a 'Depot Supervisor' that pays £12.75 an hour for shift work.
If he wants to reduce welfare spending maybe he should pay staff enough that they don't need in-work benefits.
If he wants to reduce welfare spending maybe he should pay staff enough that they don't need in-work benefits.
okay but why are we meant to care why this guy thinks exactly
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
‘Madness’ to increase welfare spending in Budget, says AO World boss
www.independent.co.uk
November 26, 2025 at 8:24 AM
okay but why are we meant to care why this guy thinks exactly
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Utterly surreal that a key part of the pre Budget narrative from the government hasn’t been ‘Russian planes keep buzzing the Essex coast, US support for NATO is looking shaky, and thanks to the Tories our army fits in Old Trafford - that’s why we need to raise taxes’.
November 26, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Utterly surreal that a key part of the pre Budget narrative from the government hasn’t been ‘Russian planes keep buzzing the Essex coast, US support for NATO is looking shaky, and thanks to the Tories our army fits in Old Trafford - that’s why we need to raise taxes’.
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Novel but thought-provoking budget commentary
I reckon the evolutionary mechanisms that generate intelligent life also make it highly likely it destroys itself upsettingly soon after achieving industrialisation. hope everyone's having a good tuesday
November 25, 2025 at 10:42 PM
Novel but thought-provoking budget commentary
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one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
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Why the two-child limit has to go, in a chart.
November 25, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Why the two-child limit has to go, in a chart.
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This is another thing I had to cut from my piece - the minimum wage is best understood as an anti-poverty measure *for single or childless couples at the start of their working lives*. But it's not a lever that helps most people struggling to make ends meet. Only cash transfers do that.
November 25, 2025 at 4:39 PM
This is another thing I had to cut from my piece - the minimum wage is best understood as an anti-poverty measure *for single or childless couples at the start of their working lives*. But it's not a lever that helps most people struggling to make ends meet. Only cash transfers do that.
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You’d never see Keir Starmer being caught out like that
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Fascinated by Reeves's approach to the upcoming budget of giving interviews where she comes off as brittle, thin-skinned and dishonest
November 25, 2025 at 11:58 AM
You’d never see Keir Starmer being caught out like that
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Here’s my CHRISTMAS GIFT TIP. You can buy all Michael Palin’s books and DVDs and suchlike off his website, and he signs and dedicates the item for no extra charge. Don’t say I don’t give you nowt. (I did this for my dad, and he didn’t notice the autograph on his Ripping Yarns.) themichaelpalin.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Here’s my CHRISTMAS GIFT TIP. You can buy all Michael Palin’s books and DVDs and suchlike off his website, and he signs and dedicates the item for no extra charge. Don’t say I don’t give you nowt. (I did this for my dad, and he didn’t notice the autograph on his Ripping Yarns.) themichaelpalin.com
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Reposted by Jonn Elledge
Amazing to learn that Isaac Chotiner can apparently just come for you in your replies. Like suddenly realizing you're swimming in open ocean
November 25, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Amazing to learn that Isaac Chotiner can apparently just come for you in your replies. Like suddenly realizing you're swimming in open ocean
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I miss when Twitter was truly great like the time a guy got upset at someone calling out a cricket team and started explaining how bowling worked and at the end OP was like "thanks for explaining btw I hold the world record for most career outs in cricket history"
November 25, 2025 at 1:36 PM
I miss when Twitter was truly great like the time a guy got upset at someone calling out a cricket team and started explaining how bowling worked and at the end OP was like "thanks for explaining btw I hold the world record for most career outs in cricket history"
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yes I don't really see how you can go "oh yikes these people have changed their political views incredibly quickly, mostly because of what Very Online people talk about on social media" and also think that people who went from never talking about gender to calling trans women predators are....normal
I don’t like subtweeting people I consider online friends, but there is a subset of people who are very worried about the ongoing radicalisation of our political elite but won’t ever acknowledge the echoes with the radicalisation of their colleagues on trans rights
And few who are sympathetic to us, some who are friendly with me on here, will ever stick their head above the parapet
November 25, 2025 at 12:55 PM
yes I don't really see how you can go "oh yikes these people have changed their political views incredibly quickly, mostly because of what Very Online people talk about on social media" and also think that people who went from never talking about gender to calling trans women predators are....normal
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I actually think it's bad that the law thinks that calling a 17 year old a "sissy porn-watching scumbag", a "groomer" and a "disgusting incel" in public is not a crime, and indeed I do not think criticising this would constitute "[picking] sides in the debate about sex and gender identity".
November 25, 2025 at 12:08 PM
I actually think it's bad that the law thinks that calling a 17 year old a "sissy porn-watching scumbag", a "groomer" and a "disgusting incel" in public is not a crime, and indeed I do not think criticising this would constitute "[picking] sides in the debate about sex and gender identity".
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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.
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Guys I have terrible news - this post has gone viral on Facebook, promoting hundreds of rage-filled comments from people who have taken it very seriously indeed. And, most annoyingly, the Autism Parents have found it!!
Mary Walker, 9, who has always displayed autistic traits, was miraculously fixed by her parents insisting that she stop it at once.
Read this and other exclusive articles on Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/119410...
Read this and other exclusive articles on Patreon: www.patreon.com/posts/119410...
November 25, 2025 at 10:40 AM
Guys I have terrible news - this post has gone viral on Facebook, promoting hundreds of rage-filled comments from people who have taken it very seriously indeed. And, most annoyingly, the Autism Parents have found it!!
brb moving to spain
So oddly my bro (who is a Spanish national) was telling me that the Andalusian tax system now bizarrely gives you a tax break if you own a dog.
November 25, 2025 at 11:13 AM
brb moving to spain
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no the new york times does not make money off of my once-a-year post about rogue one
The whole business model is just rage bait at this point. Just don’t engage with these people.
November 24, 2025 at 9:27 PM
no the new york times does not make money off of my once-a-year post about rogue one
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Yes, but the average Briton doesn't understand anything.
With Rachel Reeves reportedly set to apply a new tax on tuition fees paid by overseas students, most Britons support such a move at the previously mooted level of 6%
Support: 57%
Oppose: 18%
yougov.co.uk/topics/socie...
Support: 57%
Oppose: 18%
yougov.co.uk/topics/socie...
November 24, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Yes, but the average Briton doesn't understand anything.
Jon Stone was very wise here
November 24, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Jon Stone was very wise here
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Brilliant thecritic.co.uk/auntie-in-th...
November 24, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Brilliant thecritic.co.uk/auntie-in-th...
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Brutal
Robbie Gibb describes the BBC's Political Editor Chris Mason as the "unsung hero of covering politics" and "absolutely first rate"
November 24, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Brutal
okay fair play this one made me laugh
November 24, 2025 at 6:58 PM
okay fair play this one made me laugh