MartinSW
@msw0355.bsky.social
Dad, swimmer, public policy and management, writer, and Chelsea fan.
Reposted by MartinSW
Another in the series of invaluable posts explaining the US extreme right, & here also considering whether it could consolidate power after Trump.
bsky.app/profile/samf...
bsky.app/profile/samf...
New post out:
"The most dangerous man in America"
Understanding "Trump's Prime Minister" Stephen Miller - the nexus of all the streams of right-wing thought and behaviour that embody the current regime.
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
"The most dangerous man in America"
Understanding "Trump's Prime Minister" Stephen Miller - the nexus of all the streams of right-wing thought and behaviour that embody the current regime.
(£/free trial)
open.substack.com/pub/samf/p/t...
The most dangerous man in America
Understanding Stephen Miller: “Trump’s Prime Minister”
open.substack.com
February 4, 2026 at 10:10 AM
Another in the series of invaluable posts explaining the US extreme right, & here also considering whether it could consolidate power after Trump.
bsky.app/profile/samf...
bsky.app/profile/samf...
www.govai.gov.au/chief-ai-off.... “They will need to adopt many of the new dimensions of leadership for the digital age – architects of trust, chief sense makers, to reflexively experiment and learn, to protect legitimacy as assiduously as they chase productivity, to connect change with purpose.”
www.govai.gov.au
February 6, 2026 at 8:10 AM
www.govai.gov.au/chief-ai-off.... “They will need to adopt many of the new dimensions of leadership for the digital age – architects of trust, chief sense makers, to reflexively experiment and learn, to protect legitimacy as assiduously as they chase productivity, to connect change with purpose.”
www.afr.com/policy/econo.... “..those abandoning the Coalition are motivated not only by negative feelings towards Ley and the Coalition breakup but also by anti-establishment sentiment, lack of confidence in the political system, and..that the major parties are Tweedledee and Tweedledum.” # auspol
One Nation surge a challenge to both major parties
The immigration debate touches on social cohesion in the post-Bondi environment. But deepening political polarisation is not in the national interest.
www.afr.com
February 1, 2026 at 7:12 PM
www.afr.com/policy/econo.... “..those abandoning the Coalition are motivated not only by negative feelings towards Ley and the Coalition breakup but also by anti-establishment sentiment, lack of confidence in the political system, and..that the major parties are Tweedledee and Tweedledum.” # auspol
samf.substack.com/p/power-to-t.... “Big Local’s impact hints at the power of civic capacity... We lament the downward spirals that blight communities -factory closes, people lose hop..feeds further decline..these spirals can also go upward -confidence can lead to small wins, build more confidence.”
Power to the People
How Labour can restore civic life and counter the "Britain is broken" narrative
samf.substack.com
January 23, 2026 at 1:42 AM
samf.substack.com/p/power-to-t.... “Big Local’s impact hints at the power of civic capacity... We lament the downward spirals that blight communities -factory closes, people lose hop..feeds further decline..these spirals can also go upward -confidence can lead to small wins, build more confidence.”
www.innovationaus.com/govts-consul.... “Many of the entries do not include the details recommended by the Senate inquiry,like a meaningful description of the work being delivered, only one of the three biannual disclosures has been in an easily assessable format.” Could do better… #consultants
Govt's consulting bill almost $600 million and rising
Almost four years into the Albanese government’s consultants purge, agencies are still on the hook for almost $600 million in active consultant contracts, new integrity disclosures show. The mandatory...
www.innovationaus.com
January 19, 2026 at 10:39 PM
www.innovationaus.com/govts-consul.... “Many of the entries do not include the details recommended by the Senate inquiry,like a meaningful description of the work being delivered, only one of the three biannual disclosures has been in an easily assessable format.” Could do better… #consultants
www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto.... “Texas A&M now believes Plato doesn’t belong in an introductory philosophy course.” Always thought he was a bit overrated. Good cal. All very reassuring.Here we were worrying about the end of higher education as we know it. #highereducation #universities
Ban on Plato readings leaves academics asking who’s next
A Texas university has been accused of censorship after one of its philosophy professors was asked to remove readings on the ancient Greek philosopher...
www.universityworldnews.com
January 19, 2026 at 5:42 AM
www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto.... “Texas A&M now believes Plato doesn’t belong in an introductory philosophy course.” Always thought he was a bit overrated. Good cal. All very reassuring.Here we were worrying about the end of higher education as we know it. #highereducation #universities
open.substack.com/pub/oneusefu.... “But there's a deeper point here: with the right harness, today's AIs are capable of real, sustained work that actually matters, and that, in turn, is starting to change how we approach tasks.” #ai Keep up…
Claude Code and What Comes Next
With the right tools, AI can accomplish impressive things
open.substack.com
January 18, 2026 at 8:50 AM
open.substack.com/pub/oneusefu.... “But there's a deeper point here: with the right harness, today's AIs are capable of real, sustained work that actually matters, and that, in turn, is starting to change how we approach tasks.” #ai Keep up…
www.socialprogress.org/social-progr.... “.. the steady improvement in quality of life of recent decades may be going into reverse..rights are down nearly 6 points since 2011..health, safety,environmental quality all down..water,sanitation, housing,access to information slowed..” #socialprogress
2026 Global Social Progress Index
The Global Social Progress Index is distinct in its comprehensive approach and rigorous assessment of the wellbeing of a society. By focusing only on the non-economic aspects of social performance, th...
www.socialprogress.org
January 15, 2026 at 7:35 PM
www.socialprogress.org/social-progr.... “.. the steady improvement in quality of life of recent decades may be going into reverse..rights are down nearly 6 points since 2011..health, safety,environmental quality all down..water,sanitation, housing,access to information slowed..” #socialprogress
open.substack.com/pub/rainerka... “…rejects the comforting fantasy there’s a neat sequence—first stability, then innovation (or the other way around). In government, those jobs are concurrent.. You change while maintaining trust in the system that authorises change.” A a series worth following
Week 1 — Innovation and the Public Sector: can bureaucracy be creative?
Innovation doesn’t happen despite bureaucracy — it happens through it.
open.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 11:51 PM
open.substack.com/pub/rainerka... “…rejects the comforting fantasy there’s a neat sequence—first stability, then innovation (or the other way around). In government, those jobs are concurrent.. You change while maintaining trust in the system that authorises change.” A a series worth following
open.substack.com/pub/rainerka.... “We treat the digital era (data infrastructures,platforms, AI) as an organisational and political transformation: changes not only service delivery, but also routines, skills, and accountability structures of public bodies.” #publicsector #digitaltransformation
Week 0 — How to use this “draft-in-public” textbook
What to expects in this section of my Substack for the next 10 weeks
open.substack.com
January 13, 2026 at 11:28 AM
open.substack.com/pub/rainerka.... “We treat the digital era (data infrastructures,platforms, AI) as an organisational and political transformation: changes not only service delivery, but also routines, skills, and accountability structures of public bodies.” #publicsector #digitaltransformation
publicpurpose.com.au/this-is-why-...
“..our collective moment is not “merely a moment of disruption” but “marks a paradigmatic shift in global logic.”It’s not that the rules of the game are changing; it’s more of a wholesale shift in the nature, purpose and conduct of the game itself.” #transitions
“..our collective moment is not “merely a moment of disruption” but “marks a paradigmatic shift in global logic.”It’s not that the rules of the game are changing; it’s more of a wholesale shift in the nature, purpose and conduct of the game itself.” #transitions
This is why you need to study ancient history: we've been here before - Public Purpose
I’m obsessed with the idea of just how much our current global moment of transition resonates with the transition in ancient China from the Spring and Autumn period (770 to 476 BCE) to the Warring Sta...
publicpurpose.com.au
January 12, 2026 at 11:52 AM
publicpurpose.com.au/this-is-why-...
“..our collective moment is not “merely a moment of disruption” but “marks a paradigmatic shift in global logic.”It’s not that the rules of the game are changing; it’s more of a wholesale shift in the nature, purpose and conduct of the game itself.” #transitions
“..our collective moment is not “merely a moment of disruption” but “marks a paradigmatic shift in global logic.”It’s not that the rules of the game are changing; it’s more of a wholesale shift in the nature, purpose and conduct of the game itself.” #transitions
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202.... “..it sees career officials as the enemy within.. Its demise is not collateral damage but the imperative. What took generations to build is being dismantled in months, and with it goes not just expertise but..the shared American faith in expertise itself.” #doge
The Purged
Donald Trump’s destruction of the civil service is a tragedy not just for the roughly 300,000 workers who have been discarded, but for an entire nation.
www.theatlantic.com
January 12, 2026 at 5:39 AM
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202.... “..it sees career officials as the enemy within.. Its demise is not collateral damage but the imperative. What took generations to build is being dismantled in months, and with it goes not just expertise but..the shared American faith in expertise itself.” #doge
It’s fast becoming obvious that we’re going to need some kind of major reset in our collective understanding of the purpose, value and impact of the #publicservice or #civilservice as an indispensable institution of public governance, including governing, that is fair, accountable and effective.
When Trump purged the civil service, he did away with some of the employees who understood the government best: “What’s been lost isn’t just a sense of purpose,” Franklin Foer argues, “but a body of knowledge—a way of making the machinery of the state function.”
theatln.tc/4DdD6aFE
theatln.tc/4DdD6aFE
January 11, 2026 at 11:31 PM
It’s fast becoming obvious that we’re going to need some kind of major reset in our collective understanding of the purpose, value and impact of the #publicservice or #civilservice as an indispensable institution of public governance, including governing, that is fair, accountable and effective.
www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto.... “If learning shaped the last century, recognition will shape the next. And in that transition, micro-credentials operate not as a credentialing novelty, but as a cultural hinge between eras of meaning and value.” #highered #universities
Micro-credentials as shape-shifters: From learning to recognition
Micro-credentials occupy a curious position in today’s landscape of learning and work: they appear to be new, yet they are also profoundly not new. ...
www.universityworldnews.com
January 11, 2026 at 11:27 PM
www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto.... “If learning shaped the last century, recognition will shape the next. And in that transition, micro-credentials operate not as a credentialing novelty, but as a cultural hinge between eras of meaning and value.” #highered #universities
open.substack.com/pub/culturis.... “..it makes sense why AI has been received the way it has. Its opacity is one of the greatest contributing factors to this: since few can explain exactly how AI works, its output naturally produces a sort of “wow” factor, which is the first step to reverence.” #ai
Is AI Replacing God?
From oracles to algorithms
open.substack.com
January 11, 2026 at 11:11 AM
open.substack.com/pub/culturis.... “..it makes sense why AI has been received the way it has. Its opacity is one of the greatest contributing factors to this: since few can explain exactly how AI works, its output naturally produces a sort of “wow” factor, which is the first step to reverence.” #ai
app.thenewworld.co.uk/story/148045... “The battle is no longer between left and right, but between liberal democracy and authoritarianism. The former is much more fragile..and it is failing…no longer regarded as dependably effective…the social contract upon which it depends is close to collapse.”
The case for a new Britishness
The social contract must be revitalised or populists will replace it with something much worse. That means citizenship should involve allegiance to a shared way of life
app.thenewworld.co.uk
January 9, 2026 at 10:25 AM
app.thenewworld.co.uk/story/148045... “The battle is no longer between left and right, but between liberal democracy and authoritarianism. The former is much more fragile..and it is failing…no longer regarded as dependably effective…the social contract upon which it depends is close to collapse.”
www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto.... “When students pursue.. a triple major, it is rarely because they want more credentials. It is because the cognitive architecture of a traditional degree no longer matches the architecture of the world.” Big challenge. Big response required. ##highered
The triple major: A response to institutional insufficiency
When students pursue something resembling a triple major, it is rarely because they want more credentials. It is because students already see what uni...
www.universityworldnews.com
January 8, 2026 at 2:28 AM
www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto.... “When students pursue.. a triple major, it is rarely because they want more credentials. It is because the cognitive architecture of a traditional degree no longer matches the architecture of the world.” Big challenge. Big response required. ##highered
geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/the-compan.... “..the strength of digital technologies comes from linking things up through simpler, shared systems. This essential lesson of the digital era is often missed by politicians and civil servants …” #publicservices #trust #government
Can Government be a Companion?
Digital personal services, agents and making government useful
geoffmulgan.substack.com
January 7, 2026 at 7:30 PM
geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/the-compan.... “..the strength of digital technologies comes from linking things up through simpler, shared systems. This essential lesson of the digital era is often missed by politicians and civil servants …” #publicservices #trust #government
insidestory.org.au/a-kind-of-so... “Connective labour hasn’t been crushed across the board. But it is exploited, expanded or squeezed in different ways in different employment settings, each of them unfair and enraging in different ways.” #measureofcare
A kind of social architecture • Frances Flanagan
The case for valuing and protecting “connective labour” in an increasingly automated and disconnected world
insidestory.org.au
January 7, 2026 at 3:36 AM
insidestory.org.au/a-kind-of-so... “Connective labour hasn’t been crushed across the board. But it is exploited, expanded or squeezed in different ways in different employment settings, each of them unfair and enraging in different ways.” #measureofcare
www.afr.com/technology/t.... “Only a fool believes that technology is a cornucopia of wonderful stuff without a price to be paid…”. Alll very awkward. We’re lashed to what has become something of a monster whose moral and institutional foundations are troubling. So what to do? #techpolicy
This writer took aim at Silicon Valley 25 years ago. She was right
Paulina Borsook’s “Cyberselfish”, which offered dire predictions about the tech world’s love for libertarianism, is finding fans a quarter of a century later.
www.afr.com
January 4, 2026 at 10:02 PM
www.afr.com/technology/t.... “Only a fool believes that technology is a cornucopia of wonderful stuff without a price to be paid…”. Alll very awkward. We’re lashed to what has become something of a monster whose moral and institutional foundations are troubling. So what to do? #techpolicy
open.substack.com/pub/broligar.... The definition of courage… being brave enough to do something you know is right even when you are scared sh#tless. Remarkable stuff… #ai #techbros @carolecadwalla.bsky.social
On Power
Liminal thoughts from a liminal space, "The Perineum" between Christmas and New Year
open.substack.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:41 AM
open.substack.com/pub/broligar.... The definition of courage… being brave enough to do something you know is right even when you are scared sh#tless. Remarkable stuff… #ai #techbros @carolecadwalla.bsky.social
www.noemamag.com/a-third-path.... “The third stack movement is, at heart, a contest over who gets to script the next layer of the world’s intelligibility. As scaffolding, it stands at the threshold of perception, where infrastructure sets the conditions of appearance.” #ai #globalsouth
A Third Path For AI Beyond The US-China Binary | NOEMA
What if the future of AI isn’t defined by Washington or Beijing, but by improvisation elsewhere?
www.noemamag.com
December 21, 2025 at 10:35 PM
www.noemamag.com/a-third-path.... “The third stack movement is, at heart, a contest over who gets to script the next layer of the world’s intelligibility. As scaffolding, it stands at the threshold of perception, where infrastructure sets the conditions of appearance.” #ai #globalsouth
geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/why-do-we-.... “..we lack serious work on what care might look like...or pensions..This is
the 10th chapter problem..many books in social science have 9 chapters of brilliant analysis and a weak 10th chapter.. about what might be done.” #wellfare #innovation
the 10th chapter problem..many books in social science have 9 chapters of brilliant analysis and a weak 10th chapter.. about what might be done.” #wellfare #innovation
Welfare innovation
Why it's needed and how it can be organised
geoffmulgan.substack.com
December 16, 2025 at 11:43 AM
geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/why-do-we-.... “..we lack serious work on what care might look like...or pensions..This is
the 10th chapter problem..many books in social science have 9 chapters of brilliant analysis and a weak 10th chapter.. about what might be done.” #wellfare #innovation
the 10th chapter problem..many books in social science have 9 chapters of brilliant analysis and a weak 10th chapter.. about what might be done.” #wellfare #innovation
geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/why-do-we-.... “But because there are no programmes for welfare innovation there’s often a distinct shortage of good options for the future. Here I suggest what a programme of welfare innovation could look like.” #welfare #innovation
Welfare innovation
Why it's needed and how it can be organised
geoffmulgan.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:07 PM
geoffmulgan.substack.com/p/why-do-we-.... “But because there are no programmes for welfare innovation there’s often a distinct shortage of good options for the future. Here I suggest what a programme of welfare innovation could look like.” #welfare #innovation
www.smh.com.au/national/kid.... “Even with challenges, the alternative is far worse. Without action, we leave another generation to grow up under the rule of a handful of tech companies whose business models depend on capturing as much of children’s time and attention as possible.” #socialmediaban
I wrote the book on anxious kids. This ban doesn’t need to be perfect
The American author of The Anxious Generation writes that parents around the world are cheering on Australia’s ban.
www.smh.com.au
December 10, 2025 at 8:39 PM
www.smh.com.au/national/kid.... “Even with challenges, the alternative is far worse. Without action, we leave another generation to grow up under the rule of a handful of tech companies whose business models depend on capturing as much of children’s time and attention as possible.” #socialmediaban