Friday 9 October, 2026

The dancer In Jim Ede’s house, Kettles Yard, Cambridge. Quote of the Day “And God said, ‘Let there be light’ and there was light, but the Electricity Board said He would have to wait until Thursday to be connected.” Spike Milligan Musical alternative to the morning’s radio news Abdullah Ibrahim | Bra Timing From Phomolong Link Long Read of the Day Against historic normalization: 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 is comforting and to that degree also misleading. Fascism was a political force that was…