The CIA uses board games to train officers—and I got to play them

What are the key issues in the assisted dying bill debate?: Things to think about as the UK vote on legalising assisted dying draws closer.

‘The Apprentice’ actor Sebastian Stan: Hollywood stars fear Trump: It’s not only tech billionaires - certain actors seem to be preemptively afraid to associate with their peers who portray Trump in anything other than the most positive of lights.

A new era dawns. America’s tech bros now strut their stuff in the corridors of power: ‘This is the fusion of state and commercial power in a ruling elite.’

‘Real nastiness’: therapist training courses in UK can be ‘toxic’ and need regulating, say students: It’s unfortunate how unregulated some healthcare sectors that we appear to need now more than ever are.

Don’t call it a Substack: Anil implores us not to refer to our writing using some other dubious entity’s brand name - ‘Imagine the author of a book telling people to “read my Amazon”’.

Blue skies ahead: Leon wrangles with whether to join Bluesky.

Bluesky, decentralisation, and the distribution of power: How decentralised Bluesky is depends on what exactly you mean by decentralisation.

On Bluesky: Regarding its vibes and its technology.

Fat cells have a ‘memory’ of obesity — hinting at why it’s hard to keep weight off: A potential epigenetic reason for why it’s so difficult for folk who’ve lost a lot of weight not to regain it.

What I want from Mozilla: To fulfil their stated mission by ‘fostering an ecosystem of open, accessible software that promotes user independence, privacy, and safety’.

More than one in three children in poverty as UK deprivation hits record high: Along with a quarter of adults.

Ukrainian hackers breach former Russian commander’s computer: Romanchuk turns out to be more a chronically idle office slacker than a heroic warrior no matter whose side you’re on.

To turn Britain around, we need a proper understanding of life for poorer workers: Plagued by ill health and the cost of living crisis.

Fears grow over UK children at risk placed in illegal care homes: Many children subject to Deprivation of Liberty orders are being locked up in wholly unsuitable places.

Thought Experiment 5: Wittgenstein’s Beetle

Zionism’s long 20th century: And the shifts in the relationship between the British political left and right with regards to Israel.

The Sanewashing of RFK Jr.: Let’s not forget that this guy has some very bizarre (and dangerous) ideas.

The world according to Trump: How Trump is likely to think about Ukraine, the Middle East, Europe and China.

How “YMCA” became Donald Trump’s unlikely theme song: I had wondered.

Congress About to Gift Trump Sweeping Powers to Crush Political Enemies: A bill which enables the treasury secretary to unilaterally declare that any non-profit supports terrorism.

Before making clinical trials faster, let’s first agree on what they are: What’s needed for clinical trials designed to get new drugs onto the market is in tension with what’s needed for those designed to test interventions already in use.

I blame the media: for Trump’s electoral victory - by normalising him plus failing to recognise Biden’s achievements.

The art in everyday life: ‘You don’t have to paint the Sistine Chapel to bring art into the world.’

Regime of Unreason: The US surely couldn’t need any ‘liberalisation’ of its fossil fuel regulations when it’s already a net exporter of energy.