Matt Potter
@mattpotteruk.bsky.social
Journalist, author, magpie, scriptwriter, nerd. Washington Post, BBC, etc. Nonfic books incl WE ARE ALL TARGETS & OUTLAWS INC. Science, languages, virology, art, illicit networks, deviance, cyber, psychology, weird, prehistory, subculture. ND. He/Him
It’s just always another reason.
December 14, 2025 at 11:53 AM
It’s just always another reason.
You look back now, and you think, you know: Horse_eBooks was always the best of us.
December 14, 2025 at 8:16 AM
You look back now, and you think, you know: Horse_eBooks was always the best of us.
Reposted by Matt Potter
still galls me that when they premiered I pegged Gorillaz as waaay too high concept for America. I’d have bet money they’d do a fraction of Blur’s already puny US sales and have a few college hits. history teaches that “nonbinary cartoon singers” is less of a high concept than “British men (toffs).”
Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett casually confirming that 2D of Gorillaz is non-binary now is not what I expected from this album promotion cycle but y’know, yeah, cool, good for them!
![Albarn: That's the lovely thing about Gorillaz - it's still committed to everything existing in its own world. It's why l put that sound on my voice to separate me from [cartoon lead singer] 2-D. He…. Well, I actually don't think he's much of a he, he's more of a 'they', isn't he?
Hewlett: They're definitely more at home in that [non-binary] world. They're a sweetheart, they're open and accepting new information.
Albarn: Exactly, it's such a nice place to sing from.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vmhrtckqi7ghdoqhf3lgvm4y/bafkreifoqfxkzjxz6oq5zh75dmks7wgy75zkpercumnvqubrm2vde4tdxy@jpeg)
December 13, 2025 at 7:44 AM
still galls me that when they premiered I pegged Gorillaz as waaay too high concept for America. I’d have bet money they’d do a fraction of Blur’s already puny US sales and have a few college hits. history teaches that “nonbinary cartoon singers” is less of a high concept than “British men (toffs).”
Reposted by Matt Potter
We’re betraying the very people who put their lives on the line for our agendas, just because the West is once again having a nervous breakdown over immigration.
Germany drops promise to resettle hundreds of Afghans
Interior ministry will tell 640 people awaiting sanctuary ‘there is no longer any political interest in their being admitted’
www.theguardian.com
December 12, 2025 at 3:17 PM
We’re betraying the very people who put their lives on the line for our agendas, just because the West is once again having a nervous breakdown over immigration.
When US friends describe things in lbs, I refer to the only 3 objects I know in Lbs for an idea of weight.
1) US pack of butter = 1lb
2) Ann Peebles, "99 lbs of natural born goodness" = 99lb
3) Possessed dog Cujo, described by Stephen King as "a 200lb St Bernard".
Can these become standard units?
1) US pack of butter = 1lb
2) Ann Peebles, "99 lbs of natural born goodness" = 99lb
3) Possessed dog Cujo, described by Stephen King as "a 200lb St Bernard".
Can these become standard units?
December 12, 2025 at 4:41 PM
When US friends describe things in lbs, I refer to the only 3 objects I know in Lbs for an idea of weight.
1) US pack of butter = 1lb
2) Ann Peebles, "99 lbs of natural born goodness" = 99lb
3) Possessed dog Cujo, described by Stephen King as "a 200lb St Bernard".
Can these become standard units?
1) US pack of butter = 1lb
2) Ann Peebles, "99 lbs of natural born goodness" = 99lb
3) Possessed dog Cujo, described by Stephen King as "a 200lb St Bernard".
Can these become standard units?
Reposted by Matt Potter
This is wild - for both companies in different ways. OpenAI now has to get way more stringent with creating a safe AI environment, while Disney just became an AI investor. That's before you get to the AI copyright fight Disney is waging openai.com/index/disney...
The Walt Disney Company and OpenAI reach landmark agreement to bring beloved characters from across Disney’s brands to Sora
Agreement marks a significant step in setting meaningful standards for responsible AI in entertainment.
openai.com
December 11, 2025 at 2:09 PM
This is wild - for both companies in different ways. OpenAI now has to get way more stringent with creating a safe AI environment, while Disney just became an AI investor. That's before you get to the AI copyright fight Disney is waging openai.com/index/disney...
Reposted by Matt Potter
It does not get anymore dystopian: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
ICE is using smartwatches to track pregnant women, even during labor: ‘She was so afraid they would take her baby’
Pregnant immigrants in ICE monitoring programs are avoiding care, fearing detention during labour and delivery
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 6:02 PM
It does not get anymore dystopian: www.theguardian.com/technology/2...
Reposted by Matt Potter
Wow - the EU is launching an investigation into Google nicking web content and summarising it using AI. Good to see someone sticking up for content rights ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Commission opens investigation into possible anticompetitive conduct by Google in the use of online content for AI purposes
The European Commission has opened a formal antitrust investigation to assess whether Google has breached EU competition rules by using the content of web publishers, as well as content uploaded on th
ec.europa.eu
December 9, 2025 at 8:14 AM
Wow - the EU is launching an investigation into Google nicking web content and summarising it using AI. Good to see someone sticking up for content rights ec.europa.eu/commission/p...
Reposted by Matt Potter
Very helpful thread on why waiting lists aren't falling much despite a lot more appointments being offered.
NEW: Hospital productivity growth is beating the government’s targets. So why hasn't the NHS made more progress on cutting elective waiting times?
In a new @theifs.bsky.social comment, we examine what’s driving the divergence between two of the government’s biggest NHS priorities.
1/11
In a new @theifs.bsky.social comment, we examine what’s driving the divergence between two of the government’s biggest NHS priorities.
1/11
NEW: Strong productivity growth and increasing funding has meant English hospitals have been delivering much more elective (pre-planned) care.
So why isn't the waiting list going down more quickly?
🧵 @maxwarner.bsky.social and Olly Harvey-Rich examine what's going on:
So why isn't the waiting list going down more quickly?
🧵 @maxwarner.bsky.social and Olly Harvey-Rich examine what's going on:
December 9, 2025 at 8:44 AM
Very helpful thread on why waiting lists aren't falling much despite a lot more appointments being offered.
Reposted by Matt Potter
We are burning all our fossil fuels and pricing computer components out of reach of most people just to come up with garbage like this
December 2, 2025 at 7:52 AM
We are burning all our fossil fuels and pricing computer components out of reach of most people just to come up with garbage like this
Every age gets the scandals it deserves.
1950s, Cold War paranoia: McCarthy
1970s, polarisation/smashmouth campaigning: Watergate
1980s, greed: Iran/Contra
2025: The Hawk-Tuah Memecoin Melania Trump Clueless Populist Self-Incriminating Idiocy Industrial Complex
rudevulture.com/hawk-tuah-go...
1950s, Cold War paranoia: McCarthy
1970s, polarisation/smashmouth campaigning: Watergate
1980s, greed: Iran/Contra
2025: The Hawk-Tuah Memecoin Melania Trump Clueless Populist Self-Incriminating Idiocy Industrial Complex
rudevulture.com/hawk-tuah-go...
December 1, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Every age gets the scandals it deserves.
1950s, Cold War paranoia: McCarthy
1970s, polarisation/smashmouth campaigning: Watergate
1980s, greed: Iran/Contra
2025: The Hawk-Tuah Memecoin Melania Trump Clueless Populist Self-Incriminating Idiocy Industrial Complex
rudevulture.com/hawk-tuah-go...
1950s, Cold War paranoia: McCarthy
1970s, polarisation/smashmouth campaigning: Watergate
1980s, greed: Iran/Contra
2025: The Hawk-Tuah Memecoin Melania Trump Clueless Populist Self-Incriminating Idiocy Industrial Complex
rudevulture.com/hawk-tuah-go...
Weird Tom Stoppard memory.
I saw Leopoldstadt on the eve of Covid Lockdown in London.
At the end, all of the characters we’ve met are being asked about. They are ticked off one by one in a grim roll-call. ‘Auschwitz.’ (They blink out as the spotlight is extinguished.) ‘Auschwitz.’ It’s relentless.
I saw Leopoldstadt on the eve of Covid Lockdown in London.
At the end, all of the characters we’ve met are being asked about. They are ticked off one by one in a grim roll-call. ‘Auschwitz.’ (They blink out as the spotlight is extinguished.) ‘Auschwitz.’ It’s relentless.
November 29, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Weird Tom Stoppard memory.
I saw Leopoldstadt on the eve of Covid Lockdown in London.
At the end, all of the characters we’ve met are being asked about. They are ticked off one by one in a grim roll-call. ‘Auschwitz.’ (They blink out as the spotlight is extinguished.) ‘Auschwitz.’ It’s relentless.
I saw Leopoldstadt on the eve of Covid Lockdown in London.
At the end, all of the characters we’ve met are being asked about. They are ticked off one by one in a grim roll-call. ‘Auschwitz.’ (They blink out as the spotlight is extinguished.) ‘Auschwitz.’ It’s relentless.
Reposted by Matt Potter
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... [paywall]
The dispersal of domestic cats from North Africa to Europe around 2000 years ago
The domestic cat (Felis catus) descends from the African wildcat Felis lybica lybica. Its global distribution alongside humans testifies to its successful adaptation to anthropogenic environments. Unc...
www.science.org
November 27, 2025 at 7:50 PM
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... [paywall]
Reposted by Matt Potter
Never let it be said that the British press is out of touch
November 27, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Never let it be said that the British press is out of touch
Reposted by Matt Potter
I like to imagine that their previous failed "crypto food delivery idea" floundered because neither of them could pretend to be food or crypto.
Founders on LinkedIn still seem to be struggling with the difference between telling people about their humble beginnings and admitting to straight up committing fraud.
November 25, 2025 at 8:00 PM
I like to imagine that their previous failed "crypto food delivery idea" floundered because neither of them could pretend to be food or crypto.
Reposted by Matt Potter
the price of populism
"By 2025, Brexit had reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8%, with the impact accumulating gradually over time. We estimate that investment was reduced by between 12% and 18%, employment by 3% to 4% and productivity by 3% to 4%"
Read the Stanford report:
siepr.stanford.edu/publications...
Read the Stanford report:
siepr.stanford.edu/publications...
The Economic Impact of Brexit
Other
siepr.stanford.edu
November 25, 2025 at 7:43 PM
the price of populism
Reposted by Matt Potter
This is also how I judge the History Channel. If it’s about a topic I know, I spot at least one lie per minute watching the History Channel, so it’s horrifying to think how many lies I’d be swallowing without knowing it if I watched about a topic I don’t know.
LLM search results are even worse.
LLM search results are even worse.
Saw an interesting piece of advice recently: ask the AI search engines for an answer in a field in which you are very knowledgeable.
The results will make it clear just how much they get wrong, and how brazen they are about it.
Now, apply that to every subject in which you are NOT an expert.
The results will make it clear just how much they get wrong, and how brazen they are about it.
Now, apply that to every subject in which you are NOT an expert.
Looked up “what mobile parking app do I need for <this town>” - AI summary on Google confidently gave me the wrong answer, which I ignored because **it is wrong a third of the time, about ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING** (according to the last study I read.)
The shit just doesn’t work.
The shit just doesn’t work.
November 25, 2025 at 3:59 PM
This is also how I judge the History Channel. If it’s about a topic I know, I spot at least one lie per minute watching the History Channel, so it’s horrifying to think how many lies I’d be swallowing without knowing it if I watched about a topic I don’t know.
LLM search results are even worse.
LLM search results are even worse.
Reposted by Matt Potter
the entirety of human history has actually been manipulation by cats to get them to every corner of earth.
"Domestic cats finally crossed the Alps with the Roman conquest of Gaul"
Huh. I never really thought about the connections between animal populations and military campaigns before
Huh. I never really thought about the connections between animal populations and military campaigns before
November 23, 2025 at 7:14 AM
the entirety of human history has actually been manipulation by cats to get them to every corner of earth.
All of that on Nathan Gill and Reform as tools of Russian foreign policy - and the sequel being written here, today.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
November 23, 2025 at 7:27 AM
All of that on Nathan Gill and Reform as tools of Russian foreign policy - and the sequel being written here, today.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
I just heard that an old friend & colleague with whom I’d lost touch has died. There are lots of things to be said by people closer to them than I had become. But this person was kind, & classy, & creative. And by being all of that, they made the world, and so many other people’s lives, far better.
November 21, 2025 at 7:59 PM
I just heard that an old friend & colleague with whom I’d lost touch has died. There are lots of things to be said by people closer to them than I had become. But this person was kind, & classy, & creative. And by being all of that, they made the world, and so many other people’s lives, far better.
Reposted by Matt Potter
These are astonishingly bad numbers:
Enten: "Trump is 39 below water on the Epstein case. 39 points in the negative! My goodness gracious. What Trump has been selling on the Epstein files, the Epstein case, the American people have not been buying at all ... less than half of Republicans are buying it. This is his worst issue by far"
November 13, 2025 at 6:56 PM
These are astonishingly bad numbers:
Reposted by Matt Potter
X categorised itself as “News” so that it wasn’t obvious how it was performing on app charts versus other social media apps.
News is a less competitive category so Elon gets to “win” even as he hides X’s weak performance.
(Also I notice Truss went to the effort to find the silly “X” of the logo)
News is a less competitive category so Elon gets to “win” even as he hides X’s weak performance.
(Also I notice Truss went to the effort to find the silly “X” of the logo)
"If you want a picture of the future, imagine Liz Truss grovelling for the attention of a far-right billionaire - forever"
November 13, 2025 at 7:07 PM
X categorised itself as “News” so that it wasn’t obvious how it was performing on app charts versus other social media apps.
News is a less competitive category so Elon gets to “win” even as he hides X’s weak performance.
(Also I notice Truss went to the effort to find the silly “X” of the logo)
News is a less competitive category so Elon gets to “win” even as he hides X’s weak performance.
(Also I notice Truss went to the effort to find the silly “X” of the logo)
Reposted by Matt Potter
Women at NASA, starting with one of my favorite #WomenInSTEM photos
🧵
🧵
Valerie Thomas (1943) is an African American badass scientist.
She invented the illusion transmitter in 1980.
She helped develop the digital media formats that image processing systems used in NASA's Landsat program.
Her [very cool!] NASA photo next to a stack of computer tapes, 1979.
#WomenInSTEM 🧪
She invented the illusion transmitter in 1980.
She helped develop the digital media formats that image processing systems used in NASA's Landsat program.
Her [very cool!] NASA photo next to a stack of computer tapes, 1979.
#WomenInSTEM 🧪
November 13, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Women at NASA, starting with one of my favorite #WomenInSTEM photos
🧵
🧵
Reposted by Matt Potter
US designates four groups in Europe as terrorists, calls them 'violent Antifa'
www.reuters.com/world/europe...
www.reuters.com/world/europe...
www.reuters.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:07 PM
US designates four groups in Europe as terrorists, calls them 'violent Antifa'
www.reuters.com/world/europe...
www.reuters.com/world/europe...