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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · 16d

In other news, water is wet

Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · 20d

Feels like the "dead internet theory" is becoming the mainstream POV.

Great essay from @jamesosullivan.bsky.social

www.noemamag.com/the-last-day...

The Last Days Of Social Media | NOEMA

Social media promised connection, but it has delivered exhaustion.

www.noemamag.com

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · 27d

Really hoping this snippet from @barrymalone.bsky.social doesn't become a totem of 'what if' in the months to come. I remember the last major ebola outbreak all too well.

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Aug 29

It is always worth reading @kopalo.bsky.social

"Over 10m young Africans enter the labor force each year, but the region only creates 3m formal sector jobs."

open.substack.com/pub/kenopalo...

There will be no economic takeoff in Africa without lots of large (private sector) firms

On why African states’ jobs agenda must focus on catalyzing firm growth (and not disorganized investments in micro-entrepreneurship)

open.substack.com

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Aug 28

"Trust in institutions is damaged by failures of transparency, but is also damaged by increased transparency."

This paper is fascinating. Must read for anyone in knowledge producing organisations, not just scientists.

link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Lying increases trust in science - Theory and Society

This study begins by outlining the transparency paradox: that trust in science requires transparency, but being transparent about science, medicine and government reduces trust in science. A solution ...

link.springer.com

Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Aug 5

Let's think about zips.

www.bloomberg.com/features/202...

A fascinating look into the reality of the new tariff regime hitting the globe.

Can the World’s Largest Zipper Manufacturer Survive Trump’s Tariffs?

The world’s largest zipper manufacturer has spent decades mastering the global supply chain. Now it has to weather the Trump-tariff era.

www.bloomberg.com

Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Aug 5

This government only seeks approval from a small and probably mythical subset of swing voters.

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Aug 5

This from noted socialist outlet the Financial Times

Reposted by Rowan Emslie

James Kanter @jameskanter.bsky.social · Jul 17

Nobody should be playing God with the climate right? Yet exploration of solar geoengineering by private investors looks to be zooming ahead. Unregulated. New episode with Cynthia Scharf on Europe and the implications of technologies of desperation. In partnership with @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social

Ep.118: Putting Guardrails on Playing God

Cynthia Scharf on Europe and geoengineering.

euscream.com

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Reposted by Rowan Emslie

Centre for Future Generations @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social · Jul 1

Can Europe move from reacting to shaping the future of tech?

Think & Do 2025: Control / Alt / Lead brings together leading voices on innovation, governance & agency.

🎤 Speakers include: Anu Bradford, Maria Farrell & Javier Espinoza
📩 Register interest: cfg.eu/event/think-...

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Jul 1

It's been about 15 years now, yeah

Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Jun 25

Actually I'll amend that.

1.5 years of volunteering (and partying) in Kampala --> personal connections to 2 politicians

10+ years of working in and studying policy --> personal connections to 2 elected politicians

Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Jun 25

I now have at least friends of friends status with two elected politicians.

Both connections come from having fun and spending too much time in bars when I lived in Uganda; not from my 10+ years of working in policy.

Goes to show it's really easy to over index on career planning 😄

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Jun 23

Same energy

Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Jun 22

Wow this comes across as desperate.

How about "the bare minimum"

POLITICO Europe @politico.eu · Jun 22

US President Donald Trump's promise that he'll show up at next week's NATO summit in The Hague is already a diplomatic win, said a senior German general.

Trump showing up at NATO summit is already ‘a success,’ says German general

The NATO gathering will be a pared-down affair with a “very concise and crisp” one-page statement, said Maj. Gen. Stefan Schulz.

www.politico.eu

Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Jun 15

"We have to take that messy, conflicted, irrational, frustrating and human centre at the heart of the democratic process and embrace it.

We have to show that it is a feature, not a bug."

www.linkedin.com/pulse/circle...

The circle cannot be squared (and that's ok)

Political contradictions are the water we policy people swim in, yet we rarely acknowledge how they shape the boundaries of what's possible. If we don't claim the frustrating realities of doing politi...

www.linkedin.com

Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Jun 11

This eulogy for WTF - the first podcast I got into and one I have never quit - by @dianamoskovitz.bsky.social is a masterpiece.

defector.com/there-will-n...

There Will Never Be Another 'WTF With Marc Maron' | Defector

I heard Marc Maron announce he was ending his podcast the way that I imagine he’d’ve wanted me to—while walking through my neighborhood in Los Angeles, through wired headphones, just a little too hopp...

defector.com

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Jun 7

As ever I am many months out of sync with the publishing schedule of @lrb.co.uk, but this piece examining Derrida's exploration of hospitality "in a world that makes a fetish of sovereignty" is incredibly apposite.

www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Jonathan Rée · No Foreigners: Derrida’s Hospitality

Apart from flashes of utopianism, Derrida’s conception of politics was quite old-fashioned, perhaps pre-Kantian:...

www.lrb.co.uk

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · May 27

Oh but I'm really going to miss when the crows tear apart bin bags and spread trash all over the street.

www.brusselstimes.com/brussels/159...

Brussels municipality considers installing underground waste bins

"Rubbish bags on the streets are out of date. We should look at the many examples of European metropolises where they put waste underground."

www.brusselstimes.com

Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · May 15

Another day, another warning about the dangers of relying on tech imports www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

www.reuters.com

Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · May 14

"Content algorithms are already a problem - now imagine that turbocharged with personalised brain data"

My @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social colleague outlining the extremely overlooked risks of the fast emerging neurotech sector.

#copenhagendemocracysummit

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · May 14

The Tech & Democracy day at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit is kicking off.

Very proud of the @cfg-thinktank.bsky.social team for shaping the agenda today alongside @allianceofdemsorg.bsky.social

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · May 13

"Hope is not a strategy. Europe must throw off its naivity and complacency."

Former NATO SecGen opening #CopenhagenDemocracySummit with a challenge.

@allianceofdemsorg.bsky.social

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Apr 30

Political misdirection and spillover attacks are hurting EU nonprofits at a time when the funding ecosystem is in turmoil. But now is not the time to side with the establishment.

My latest piece on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/pulse/witch-...

A witch hunt in the cordon sanitaire

Political misdirection and spillover attacks are hurting EU nonprofits at a time when the funding ecosystem is in turmoil. The way through cannot be a retreat to the establishment, but instead to call...

www.linkedin.com

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Rowan Emslie @rowanemslie.bsky.social · Apr 30

Somebody needs to tell Tony Blair that ID cards are somehow directly connected to fighting climate change, we can turn things around.