Monday 5 October, 2026

Acorn This fell on to the pavement in front of me the other day. Funny to think that from such a tiny, beautiful seed a mighty oak might grow. Quote of the Day ”Did you know that Mozart had no arms and no legs? I’ve seen statues of him on people’s pianos.” Viktor Borge Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news Beethoven | Mandolin Sonatina in C Link Just in case you thought that Beethoven was always serious! Long Read of the Day Against historic normalization. Or why AI is not the Manhattan project and why we must challenge ourselves to think the radically new.** Very timely Substack post by the historian Adam Tooze. Given the extremity of our moment there is an understandable desire to look to history as a possible source of orientation: hegemonic succession, fascism, the nuclear arms race, Cold War 2.0, middle-income trap, Japan 1990s etc are all commonly invoked. In each case the motive is understandable and the discussion is often fruitful, but more often than not the effect…