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Why this crypto winter might be permanent

Why this crypto winter might be permanent

For years, the true believers have shouted from the rooftops of social media, preaching a bitcoin gospel of decentralisation and ‘digital gold’. But last week’s turmoil in the markets, which was nothing short of historic, has been followed by a deafening silence. At the time of writing, bitcoin has ‘stabilised’ around USD $70,000 after plunging a ...
Mono-fanaticism in a sunburnt country

Mono-fanaticism in a sunburnt country

The most effective political leaders are semi-housetrained polecats, which is also a famous insult. You cannot lay a glove on them; if you do it is terribly painful, at least for those who are hostile. Most leadership then ends in failure, with leaders thrown out of office. I am not sure how this reconciles with John Stuart Mill’s idea that good ...
The eternal danger of an actor without a script

The eternal danger of an actor without a script

Actors have been saying unscripted things again. Riz Ahmed is the star of a brand-new film version of Hamlet directed by Aneil Karia and set among the South Asian community in contemporary London. He told the BBC at the weekend that the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy is not actually about contemplating suicide at all, but about ‘resistance’. He adds ...

Why this crypto winter might be permanent

Why this crypto winter might be permanent
For years, the true believers have shouted from the rooftops of social media, preaching a bitcoin gospel of decentralisation and ‘digital gold’. But last week’s turmoil in the markets, which was nothing short of historic, has been followed by a deafening silence. At the time of writing, bitcoin has ‘stabilised’ around USD $70,000 after plunging a ...

Mono-fanaticism in a sunburnt country

Mono-fanaticism in a sunburnt country
The most effective political leaders are semi-housetrained polecats, which is also a famous insult. You cannot lay a glove on them; if you do it is terribly painful, at least for those who are hostile. Most leadership then ends in failure, with leaders thrown out of office. I am not sure how this reconciles with John Stuart Mill’s idea that good ...

The eternal danger of an actor without a script

The eternal danger of an actor without a script
Actors have been saying unscripted things again. Riz Ahmed is the star of a brand-new film version of Hamlet directed by Aneil Karia and set among the South Asian community in contemporary London. He told the BBC at the weekend that the ‘to be or not to be’ soliloquy is not actually about contemplating suicide at all, but about ‘resistance’. He adds ...