The end of the West is not the end of the world.

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trump’s numbers are tanking and there is a palpable desire in the electorate for a real alternative and yet the only money in democratic politics is for doing starmerism

Our new magazine, Equator, is officially out in the world — and here @equatormag.bsky.social
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I think a key UK political science question is how the current government can shoot itself in more feet than it actually has. And for theorists the issue is how to characterise a form of rule in which the government shoots itself in the foot, then puts the foot in its mouth and shoots it again.

Indeed. Far too much worrying about Polanski, about Farage, about the Ipsos' issues index, about individual polling, and not enough on 'how can we deliver election-winning budgets and spending rounds in 2027-8 and 2028-9'.

How it started How it's going

It feels like it ought to be possible for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to avoid giving a running commentary on a music festival.

Oh no not criticizing Israel’s demonstrated practice of apartheid, a practice identified by human-rights groups the New York Times frequently quotes with credibility, or describing Zionists as oppressors just because they oppress Palestinians!

The immediate success of congestion pricing, after the Dem establishment insisted it would discredit the entire party, was a great advertisement for Trying Shit.

"The problem with the polling and all the emphasis on data in contemporary politics is that it does not take into account that the electorate doesn’t really exist until election day, and the politician and his or her campaign are actively creating that electorate."

All a bit feral www.economist.com/britain/2025...

Very unusual to wake up to find good news overnight from the United States.

More of this, please, Americans.

Great piece by @will-davies.bsky.social on TikTok, "clustered publics" and their role in far-right resentment. (I've found this shift profoundly challenging to respond to as a journalist. Ignore it and trust what I write reaches readers anyway? Dive in? Something else?)
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

There are New Yorkers who don’t want Zohran to be mayor but there are no New Yorkers who actually want Andrew Cuomo to be mayor, including Andrew Cuomo

I would like to say that I support all sports posters. Your occasional, rapid fire 1-5 word posts that make no sense unless you are watching a game are beautiful to me.

who would the New York Times and Wall Street want in charge of New York's fire department: an upstart young firefighter or a serial arsonist? The answer may surprise you

Interesting essay: fruit machine meets television the best description of TikTok

After months of reporting (and even my own attempt at a jiu jitsu class), my FT Magazine cover story on Mark Zuckerberg’s metamorphosis to red-blooded “Maga Mark” is out!

Is this political expediency, a midlife crisis or who Zuck has been all along?

on.ft.com/4nsoktx

Having read for research purposes no fewer than four articles by opinion columnists about how dreadful Bluesky is, I think my conclusion is "kind of interesting except I notice that Financial Times and Bloomberg journalists seem to get on fine and have lots of mates here"

Huge implications from this: Microsoft cut off the email of the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, because of his work on Israel www.nytimes.com/2025/06/20/t...

I rant about this a lot but I can’t for the life of me understand why BBC 6 Music News gives a daily update of how many people crossed the channel in small boats yesterday

From a news values perspective alone, it makes no sense

Somehow seems that despite all the big success stories of politics over the last **three decades**, we're averse to concluding "people who appear to believe in something sincerely are popular, being the kind of person perceived as someone who would say anything to get elected is unpopular"

In two important ways Labour empowered Nigel Farage and Faragism this week. Both were strategic mistakes. We’ve seen this story before.

New writing from me.

open.substack.com/pub/goodalla...