Alex Hern
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hern.bsky.social
Alex Hern
@hern.bsky.social
AI correspondent at the Economist. I write about it, that is. I’m still human. One of literally dozens of people online who is not American.
TÖDLEIN, THE SILENT ARCHER
Move 6” | Wounds 4 | Save 5+ | Bravery 10
MELEE: Bony Grasp (3”, 2 Atks, 4+/4+, -1 Rend, 1 Dmg)
RANGED: Deathly Arrow (18”, 1 Atk, 3+/3+, -2 Rend, D3 Dmg)
ABILITY: Inevitable Shot - Unmodified 6s to hit auto-wound​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​
‘Tödlein’, Death as an archer.
Made from pear wood.
Dated to before 1519; artist: Hans Leinberger
www.khm.at/kunstwerke/t...
February 11, 2026 at 9:15 AM
It is absolutely part of the American constitution that the party system is decentralised, open, and not built around mass membership, and the fact that none of that is mentioned in The Constitution is irrelevant
February 10, 2026 at 8:47 PM
This is a great example of what I mean when I say America having The Constitution makes them blind to their own constitution
Do people not realize it is illegal for parties to do this in the United States because we decided around the turn of the last century that we didn't want unaccountable party bosses to decide who we could vote for
People pay because they want their ideology to win
February 10, 2026 at 8:46 PM
This is the most freelance journalist experience you’ve ever uttered
February 10, 2026 at 5:07 PM
would you say, duncan, that he is toast
February 10, 2026 at 10:27 AM
i always like headlines like this that can answer with a big ol map
February 10, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Reposted by Alex Hern
In case you want a prestigious certificate on your wall theagat.co
The AGAT - The Adventure Game Aptitude Test
Can you beat an 80s adventure game without a walkthrough? Prove it by taking the world's first standardized gaming exam.
theagat.co
February 9, 2026 at 8:28 PM
The way you’ve phrased this makes it sound like you’re proposing annexations
February 9, 2026 at 7:15 PM
I’m afraid this is just people who’ve learned critical vocabulary through social media posting and inferred meaning incorrectly
February 9, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Gonna have to admit that maybe those of us saying “you’re all addicted to Brexit psychodrama, normal parties don’t just replace their leaders within two years of an election” called it wrong
February 9, 2026 at 4:44 PM
anyway starting to see the emergent logic. you don’t want to take over from him now, but you don’t want to ride the frozen corpse into oblivion either, so eventually you have to quit cabinet. but if enough people quit cabinet then he goes, even if you wish he’d stick around to take all the heat.
February 9, 2026 at 3:17 PM
was going to post a picture of hearthstone streamer disguised toast but figure the venn diagram of people who would recognise disguised toast in a context free post and people who care about a bluesky thread in which i find increasingly arcane ways to say keir starmer is toast is just me
February 9, 2026 at 2:51 PM
just incredible to have a court case over four weeks' unpaid minimum wages where i'm willing to bet both plaintiff and respondent can buy my sorry arse
February 9, 2026 at 1:44 PM
minimum wage lmao
February 9, 2026 at 1:36 PM
www.ft.com/content/a38d... Absolutely imperative that the UK government builds an immigration programme welcoming to these people
US embassy in London denies visas to executives over minor offences
Immigration lawyers say top-level corporate figures and tech leaders among those barred from visiting America
www.ft.com
February 9, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Huh!
February 9, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Amongst the many funny things about this - limiting you to 30 downloads a month? - this entire streaming service will die the second Netflix completes its acquisition
HBO Max is to launch in the UK on Thursday 26th March.

The Pitt S1 will be on there with S2 episodes out weekly.

It will be the home of TNT Sports (£30.99 a month). Four different other packages available from £4.99 a month.
February 9, 2026 at 12:27 PM
He’s doesn’t fear political oblivion because he’s already died once and lived to tell the tale
February 9, 2026 at 12:25 PM
Cometh the hour cometh the Ed
February 9, 2026 at 12:22 PM
They’re metering downloads lmao what
February 9, 2026 at 12:21 PM
so… you're saying I should buy the dip
February 9, 2026 at 9:45 AM
i don't even really need a "UK Holidays" calendar I need a "when is easter" calendar. That's it, that's the only one that I can't just add as a recurring event myself
February 9, 2026 at 9:28 AM
feels like them importing american culture wars (where there's a long list of national holidays of wildly varying levels of observence and missing any of them out is making a Statement) to the UK (where there's bank holidays, which Matter, and fake holidays, which no-one needs to know about)
February 9, 2026 at 9:26 AM
as an aside, i've decided it's peak american bullshit that neither apple nor google provides a "UK Holidays" calendar that only mentions real bank holidays
February 9, 2026 at 9:25 AM
what's happening in 2033. what do they know
February 9, 2026 at 9:22 AM