Daniel Knowles
@dlknowles.bsky.social
Midwest correspondent at The Economist, in Chicago. Before that, in London, Mumbai, Nairobi and DC.
Buy my book: http://shorturl.at/BJOUV
Buy my book: http://shorturl.at/BJOUV
Pinned
Daniel Knowles
@dlknowles.bsky.social
· Oct 9
Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport
Pedal power is booming, spinning up a new culture war
www.economist.com
By me this week - the happiest thing I've got to report of late, with a glorious trip over the summer to Montreal
"Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport."
www.economist.com/internationa...
"Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport."
www.economist.com/internationa...
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
Last week: In response to WaPo’s story on the Sept. 2 boat strikes, the Pentagon says “This entire narrative is completely false.”
Today: The White House confirms that a 2nd strike happened and that “Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes”
Today: The White House confirms that a 2nd strike happened and that “Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes”
December 1, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Last week: In response to WaPo’s story on the Sept. 2 boat strikes, the Pentagon says “This entire narrative is completely false.”
Today: The White House confirms that a 2nd strike happened and that “Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes”
Today: The White House confirms that a 2nd strike happened and that “Secretary Hegseth authorized Admiral Bradley to conduct these kinetic strikes”
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
An exhaustive and utterly damning assesment. "In sum, there is simply no plausible argument that the reported killing of two survivors clinging to the burning wreckage of their stricken vessel could be anything other than an extrajudicial killing." www.justsecurity.org/125948/illeg...
Unlawful Orders and Killing Shipwrecked Boat Strike Survivors: An Expert Backgrounder
An expert backgrounder on the reported Hegseth "no quarter" order to kill everyone aboard a suspected drug boat in the Caribbean on Sept. 2.
www.justsecurity.org
December 1, 2025 at 3:44 PM
An exhaustive and utterly damning assesment. "In sum, there is simply no plausible argument that the reported killing of two survivors clinging to the burning wreckage of their stricken vessel could be anything other than an extrajudicial killing." www.justsecurity.org/125948/illeg...
Interesting counter-point
This won’t be a popular opinion, but I don’t think the instructor was right here. The assignment said that the goal was for students to demonstrate they completed the readings *and* they could do so by reflecting on, among other things, their personal experiences. www.oudaily.com/news/ou-stat...
OU puts graduate instructor on leave after student claims discrimination on Bible-based essay grade
OU placed a graduate student instructor on leave after a student publicly contested a grade and filed an illegal discrimination claim after she received a failing grade on an essay
www.oudaily.com
December 1, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Interesting counter-point
Do you think they realise Americans actually know the price of gasoline?
HASSETT: Gas prices dropped below $2 a gallon in a lot of places
CORDES: Gas prices on average are still at $3 a galloon
HASSETT: For a few states they got below $2
CORDES: Gas prices on average are still at $3 a galloon
HASSETT: For a few states they got below $2
November 30, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Do you think they realise Americans actually know the price of gasoline?
This New York Times piece on super-fast e-bikes and how dangerous they are is well done. It is nuanced, not hysterical and very much doesn't damn all e-bikes. But it does properly show how incredibly bad the illegal/unregulated throttle-driven ones are: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/m...
The Shocking Crash That Led One County to Reckon With the Dangers of E-Bikes
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 11:04 PM
This New York Times piece on super-fast e-bikes and how dangerous they are is well done. It is nuanced, not hysterical and very much doesn't damn all e-bikes. But it does properly show how incredibly bad the illegal/unregulated throttle-driven ones are: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/m...
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
Click through and read the assignment feedback, which was constructive, kind, and frankly very gentle. Suspending the instructor over this is a deranged overreaction in support of a clearly bad faith student, and the university choosing this action is once again another stain on higher education.
OU has put the professor here on administrative leave:
November 30, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Click through and read the assignment feedback, which was constructive, kind, and frankly very gentle. Suspending the instructor over this is a deranged overreaction in support of a clearly bad faith student, and the university choosing this action is once again another stain on higher education.
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
When this criminal was jailed, the judge told David Gentile and America: ‘This is a warning to would-be fraudsters that seeking to get rich by taking advantage of investors gets you only a one-way ticket to jail.’ I guess not
November 30, 2025 at 9:27 AM
When this criminal was jailed, the judge told David Gentile and America: ‘This is a warning to would-be fraudsters that seeking to get rich by taking advantage of investors gets you only a one-way ticket to jail.’ I guess not
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
This is a legitimate scientific revolution in meteorology.
Also, to be clear, these models are not the AI LLMs that most people are familiar with. They are machine learning algorithms trained on observations (actually reanalysis).
Also, to be clear, these models are not the AI LLMs that most people are familiar with. They are machine learning algorithms trained on observations (actually reanalysis).
Meteorologists are surprised that the weather model that did the best job forecasting hurricanes this year was a new one, introduced by Google. AI may be the beginning of a new era of forecasting. n.pr/49MFa1M
As the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season ends, the future of forecasting is AI
Meteorologists are surprised that the weather model that did the best job forecasting hurricanes this year was a new one, introduced by Google. AI may be the beginning of a new era of forecasting.
n.pr
November 30, 2025 at 5:55 AM
This is a legitimate scientific revolution in meteorology.
Also, to be clear, these models are not the AI LLMs that most people are familiar with. They are machine learning algorithms trained on observations (actually reanalysis).
Also, to be clear, these models are not the AI LLMs that most people are familiar with. They are machine learning algorithms trained on observations (actually reanalysis).
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
A way to conceptualize this: Lyft is a publicly traded firm. Its investors expect market average if not market beating returns on capital spending. That probably means citibike expansion is conservative, and prices are high to ensure that rate of return.
It's too damn expensive to ride a Citi Bike. buff.ly/cZCvWJq
November 30, 2025 at 12:58 AM
A way to conceptualize this: Lyft is a publicly traded firm. Its investors expect market average if not market beating returns on capital spending. That probably means citibike expansion is conservative, and prices are high to ensure that rate of return.
Honestly it's funny that he is *quite literally* saying "deregulate and reduce the burden of taxation on business to create jobs" and nobody on the left will criticise him. Good.
Soon small businesses won’t have to wait for Small Business Saturday to get attention from their Mayor.
Some changes that they can look forward to:
Some changes that they can look forward to:
November 29, 2025 at 11:08 PM
Honestly it's funny that he is *quite literally* saying "deregulate and reduce the burden of taxation on business to create jobs" and nobody on the left will criticise him. Good.
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
Extraordinary WSJ reporting today that unveils the extent to which Trump, Witkoff, Kushner and US business executives are salivating over business deals with Russia while Putin’s forces kidnap Ukranian children and bomb civilians in their apartments.
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
November 29, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Extraordinary WSJ reporting today that unveils the extent to which Trump, Witkoff, Kushner and US business executives are salivating over business deals with Russia while Putin’s forces kidnap Ukranian children and bomb civilians in their apartments.
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
🎁 www.wsj.com/world/russia...
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
First six-plus-inch snow in Chicago since February 2021!
November 29, 2025 at 10:45 PM
First six-plus-inch snow in Chicago since February 2021!
Yes but also I kind of think browsing isn't dead. Book shops and record stores are thriving
The death of browsing is part of the reason art is the way it is now. Our opinions are largely fed to us by algorithms. Spending a spare 15 minutes wandering around a bookstore or comic shop or video rental place was how you found stuff you wouldn't ordinarily pick up and thereby expanded your taste
Bookselling is like the most "people go to the store and buy what looks cool to them without a particular agenda" type business left, and your purchases have a huge influence on what is ordered, what is displayed, and what is recommended.
November 29, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Yes but also I kind of think browsing isn't dead. Book shops and record stores are thriving
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
For context: Jack served as head of the Office of Legal Counsel during the Bush administration. He’s widely regarded—especially in conservative legal circles—as a leading authority on executive power. The fact that he’s expressing this view in such stark terms is significant.
Harvard Law School’s Jack Goldsmith:
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
“In short, if the Post’s facts are correct, it appears that Special Operations Forces committed murder when the ‘two men were blown apart in the water, as the Post put it.’”
open.substack.com/pub/executiv...
November 29, 2025 at 3:09 PM
For context: Jack served as head of the Office of Legal Counsel during the Bush administration. He’s widely regarded—especially in conservative legal circles—as a leading authority on executive power. The fact that he’s expressing this view in such stark terms is significant.
It's honestly astonishing how few other CEOs do not seem to have understood this quite basic point
Dimon on why JPMorgan Chase is not funding WH Ballroom:
We have an issue, which is anything we do, since we do a lot of contracts with governments here and around the world, we have to be very careful how anything is perceived, and also how the next DOJ is going to deal with it.
We have an issue, which is anything we do, since we do a lot of contracts with governments here and around the world, we have to be very careful how anything is perceived, and also how the next DOJ is going to deal with it.
November 29, 2025 at 8:02 PM
It's honestly astonishing how few other CEOs do not seem to have understood this quite basic point
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
These habeas cases have absolutely flooded court dockets all over the country — I’ve regularly added more than 100 per day to my tracker — with exasperated judges pleading for binding guidance from the appeals courts that still could be weeks/months away. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
More than 220 judges have now rejected the Trump admin’s mass detention policy
The number has skyrocketed in recent weeks and includes at least 20 judges appointed by Trump himself.
www.politico.com
November 28, 2025 at 3:35 PM
These habeas cases have absolutely flooded court dockets all over the country — I’ve regularly added more than 100 per day to my tracker — with exasperated judges pleading for binding guidance from the appeals courts that still could be weeks/months away. www.politico.com/news/2025/11...
Just an ordinary Chicago trucker pilgrimage
November 29, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Just an ordinary Chicago trucker pilgrimage
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
Britain's left-wing government is left-wing www.economist.com/britain/2025...
Britain’s left-wing government is left-wing
An obvious fact. But still an overlooked one
www.economist.com
November 27, 2025 at 8:36 AM
Britain's left-wing government is left-wing www.economist.com/britain/2025...
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
Again, I would advise people to go read the media from 50 years ago. Sure, there was absolutely an awkward stiffness that the death of deference got rid of and I prefer it but they talked to you like adults in a way that very few newspapers do today.
I don't think it's all of it by any measure but I do absolutely believe that the political media's raging anti-intellectual streak has got worse with time and has ended up influencing the way MPs talk, and what they choose to talk/think about
I don’t think this is a “politicians have got dumber” issue for the most part. If you look at the *actual CVs* of previous cohorts of MPs, their background is not radically different when you account for, you know, the fact the economy is different! It is primarily a media and ecosystem issue.
November 28, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Again, I would advise people to go read the media from 50 years ago. Sure, there was absolutely an awkward stiffness that the death of deference got rid of and I prefer it but they talked to you like adults in a way that very few newspapers do today.
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
New Gallup poll shows Trump's approval hit a new low for his second term:
-36% approve
-60% disapprove
His approval among Republicans went from 91% in January to 84% in November
news.gallup.com/poll/699221/...
-36% approve
-60% disapprove
His approval among Republicans went from 91% in January to 84% in November
news.gallup.com/poll/699221/...
Trump's Approval Rating Drops to 36%, New Second-Term Low
President Donald Trump's job approval rating has slipped to a new second-term low point and is approaching his all-time low of 34%.
news.gallup.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:50 PM
New Gallup poll shows Trump's approval hit a new low for his second term:
-36% approve
-60% disapprove
His approval among Republicans went from 91% in January to 84% in November
news.gallup.com/poll/699221/...
-36% approve
-60% disapprove
His approval among Republicans went from 91% in January to 84% in November
news.gallup.com/poll/699221/...
Good for him
h/t @adamwren.bsky.social
Michael Bohacek, a Republican state senator from Indiana who has a daughter with down syndrome, says he will vote against redistricting in Indiana after Trump used the word "retarded."
Michael Bohacek, a Republican state senator from Indiana who has a daughter with down syndrome, says he will vote against redistricting in Indiana after Trump used the word "retarded."
November 28, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Good for him
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
No settled society constantly had everyone riding horses.
Cities went from being based around walking, to horse drawn trams, to electric trams to automobiles or electric trains.
Cities went from being based around walking, to horse drawn trams, to electric trams to automobiles or electric trains.
Considering that horses are dangerous and riders are very regularly seriously injured, I wonder what the direct overall injury/death rate looked like when everyone in our society had to constantly ride/drive horses, versus the injury/death rate from cars today?
November 28, 2025 at 7:43 PM
No settled society constantly had everyone riding horses.
Cities went from being based around walking, to horse drawn trams, to electric trams to automobiles or electric trains.
Cities went from being based around walking, to horse drawn trams, to electric trams to automobiles or electric trains.
It's been a pretty busy couple of months so I have only just had chance to turn to reading this by the @thewaroncars.bsky.social folk, but it's a great bit of work, with lots of stuff I didn't know
November 28, 2025 at 8:37 PM
It's been a pretty busy couple of months so I have only just had chance to turn to reading this by the @thewaroncars.bsky.social folk, but it's a great bit of work, with lots of stuff I didn't know
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
I don't think it's all of it by any measure but I do absolutely believe that the political media's raging anti-intellectual streak has got worse with time and has ended up influencing the way MPs talk, and what they choose to talk/think about
I don’t think this is a “politicians have got dumber” issue for the most part. If you look at the *actual CVs* of previous cohorts of MPs, their background is not radically different when you account for, you know, the fact the economy is different! It is primarily a media and ecosystem issue.
We have got to make politics intellectual again. It is the only way that societies thrive is when politicians have the capability to actually think and reflect deeply:
November 28, 2025 at 3:09 PM
I don't think it's all of it by any measure but I do absolutely believe that the political media's raging anti-intellectual streak has got worse with time and has ended up influencing the way MPs talk, and what they choose to talk/think about
Reposted by Daniel Knowles
Reuters reached out to everyone that Trump or his subordinates singled out publicly for retribution, and reviewed hundreds of official orders, directives and public records. The result: the most comprehensive accounting yet of his campaign of payback.
www.reuters.com/investigates...
www.reuters.com/investigates...
November 27, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Reuters reached out to everyone that Trump or his subordinates singled out publicly for retribution, and reviewed hundreds of official orders, directives and public records. The result: the most comprehensive accounting yet of his campaign of payback.
www.reuters.com/investigates...
www.reuters.com/investigates...