@benhoyle.bsky.social
When you think about it, cake is a pretty efficient foodstuff...
November 12, 2025 at 12:46 PM
When you think about it, cake is a pretty efficient foodstuff...
New read.
I saw Peter Macfadyen talk at a recent BRLSI event and wanted to learn more about the Independent Council in Frome (just next door to Bath). This is his book about it.
It’s also interesting to compare “democracy thoughts” in 2014 to 2025…
I saw Peter Macfadyen talk at a recent BRLSI event and wanted to learn more about the Independent Council in Frome (just next door to Bath). This is his book about it.
It’s also interesting to compare “democracy thoughts” in 2014 to 2025…
November 12, 2025 at 10:30 AM
New read.
I saw Peter Macfadyen talk at a recent BRLSI event and wanted to learn more about the Independent Council in Frome (just next door to Bath). This is his book about it.
It’s also interesting to compare “democracy thoughts” in 2014 to 2025…
I saw Peter Macfadyen talk at a recent BRLSI event and wanted to learn more about the Independent Council in Frome (just next door to Bath). This is his book about it.
It’s also interesting to compare “democracy thoughts” in 2014 to 2025…
Ah, do you remember how we once thought social media was the answer to democracy!
To be fair, there was potential. Around Arab Spring times. And the state of current social media is maybe partly a result of a decade of undermining a perceived threat for single party systems…
To be fair, there was potential. Around Arab Spring times. And the state of current social media is maybe partly a result of a decade of undermining a perceived threat for single party systems…
November 12, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Ah, do you remember how we once thought social media was the answer to democracy!
To be fair, there was potential. Around Arab Spring times. And the state of current social media is maybe partly a result of a decade of undermining a perceived threat for single party systems…
To be fair, there was potential. Around Arab Spring times. And the state of current social media is maybe partly a result of a decade of undermining a perceived threat for single party systems…
People often prefer a made-up abstracted set of reasons than someone saying… -
It's a Mystery
Toyah · Anthem · Song · 1981
open.spotify.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:30 AM
People often prefer a made-up abstracted set of reasons than someone saying… -
“We tear the heart out of everything in the name of efficiency then in our free time watch the bleed out.”
November 10, 2025 at 8:42 AM
“We tear the heart out of everything in the name of efficiency then in our free time watch the bleed out.”
One of my highlights yesterday at Simple Things was discovering DITZ - dark, heavy, playful, scuzzy, with brilliant riffs. Excellent live. The album from earlier in the year is 👌 - Never Exhale open.spotify.com/album/6FLTTZ....
Never Exhale - Album by DITZ | Spotify
DITZ · album · 2025 · 10 songs
open.spotify.com
November 9, 2025 at 12:46 PM
One of my highlights yesterday at Simple Things was discovering DITZ - dark, heavy, playful, scuzzy, with brilliant riffs. Excellent live. The album from earlier in the year is 👌 - Never Exhale open.spotify.com/album/6FLTTZ....
Simple Things festival returns as venues face 'challenging time' - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... [Simple Things today! 🖤]
Simple Things festival returns as venues face 'challenging time'
The event brings bands to venues across Bristol and is seen as a lifeline for the local music scene.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Simple Things festival returns as venues face 'challenging time' - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article... [Simple Things today! 🖤]
“The editors of Scientific American were overwhelmed by the prospect of hearing the voices of the dead – an everyday miracle we now take for granted.”
November 7, 2025 at 4:18 PM
“The editors of Scientific American were overwhelmed by the prospect of hearing the voices of the dead – an everyday miracle we now take for granted.”
Stone tool discovery suggests very first humans were inventors - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
[I always liked the theories that brain size and language were followers, rather than enablers, of tool use & manual dexterity, which is what these findings suggest.]
[I always liked the theories that brain size and language were followers, rather than enablers, of tool use & manual dexterity, which is what these findings suggest.]
Stone tool discovery suggests very first humans were inventors
The find shows that the technology was passed down through thousands of generations.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Stone tool discovery suggests very first humans were inventors - BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
[I always liked the theories that brain size and language were followers, rather than enablers, of tool use & manual dexterity, which is what these findings suggest.]
[I always liked the theories that brain size and language were followers, rather than enablers, of tool use & manual dexterity, which is what these findings suggest.]
It’s pretty strange how average graduate starting salaries haven’t change much since I graduated 20-odd years ago (yet inflation has been non-zero & house prices are ~3x higher).
November 3, 2025 at 10:30 AM
It’s pretty strange how average graduate starting salaries haven’t change much since I graduated 20-odd years ago (yet inflation has been non-zero & house prices are ~3x higher).
“Irascible Eighteen” - abstract art’s avant-guard in 1950 - 17 middle-aged white men with similar haircuts in suits and ties.
November 3, 2025 at 8:42 AM
“Irascible Eighteen” - abstract art’s avant-guard in 1950 - 17 middle-aged white men with similar haircuts in suits and ties.
A good test for historical “great men” is how they treat their wives & partners, especially in ages of sexual inequality.
It’s why Dostoevsky trumps Tolstoy.
It’s why Dostoevsky trumps Tolstoy.
November 2, 2025 at 10:30 AM
A good test for historical “great men” is how they treat their wives & partners, especially in ages of sexual inequality.
It’s why Dostoevsky trumps Tolstoy.
It’s why Dostoevsky trumps Tolstoy.
“Unless ideas are massaged into reality they evaporate.”
October 31, 2025 at 12:46 PM
“Unless ideas are massaged into reality they evaporate.”
The rates of in-fighting, schisms, and lawsuits at nearly all “high IQ” societies likely tells us that we shouldn’t really be led in society by those with high IQs…
October 30, 2025 at 8:42 AM
The rates of in-fighting, schisms, and lawsuits at nearly all “high IQ” societies likely tells us that we shouldn’t really be led in society by those with high IQs…
“In many cases, a self-image as a “clever person” simply makes you more likely to hold your incorrect opinions extremely forcefully.”
October 29, 2025 at 4:18 PM
“In many cases, a self-image as a “clever person” simply makes you more likely to hold your incorrect opinions extremely forcefully.”
Bloody kurgans, coming over here with their “horses”, “wheels”, “metals”, sky fathers and proto-languages.
October 28, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Bloody kurgans, coming over here with their “horses”, “wheels”, “metals”, sky fathers and proto-languages.
The superpower of homo sapiens - seeing an imagined world, assuming it is real, and thus making the imagined, real.
October 28, 2025 at 8:42 AM
The superpower of homo sapiens - seeing an imagined world, assuming it is real, and thus making the imagined, real.
What happens when the AI is plugged in to observe our lives and sees the destructive patterns we create for ourselves that we deny we are acting out?
Will we listen?
Will we listen?
October 27, 2025 at 12:46 PM
What happens when the AI is plugged in to observe our lives and sees the destructive patterns we create for ourselves that we deny we are acting out?
Will we listen?
Will we listen?
How progress ends: technology, innovation, and the fate of nations podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/l... [These LSE lectures-as-podcasts are always great. This one fascinating for anyone in tech or patents interested in the mechanics of innovation.]
How progress ends: technology, innovation, and the fate of nations
Podcast Episode · LSE: Public lectures and events · 21/10/2025 · 1h 25m
podcasts.apple.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:30 AM
How progress ends: technology, innovation, and the fate of nations podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/l... [These LSE lectures-as-podcasts are always great. This one fascinating for anyone in tech or patents interested in the mechanics of innovation.]
One for social media.
October 26, 2025 at 4:18 PM
One for social media.
I enjoyed the Emma Talbot exhibition at the Arnolfini.
October 26, 2025 at 12:46 PM
I enjoyed the Emma Talbot exhibition at the Arnolfini.
Many stories: flawed but normal human has quirks & foibles but nothing out of distribution; they are then in a serious car crash; their personality then changes subtly, becomes more extreme & unravels over decades.
Why do we not see the brain as an organ that can be damaged?
Why do we not see the brain as an organ that can be damaged?
October 26, 2025 at 10:30 AM
Many stories: flawed but normal human has quirks & foibles but nothing out of distribution; they are then in a serious car crash; their personality then changes subtly, becomes more extreme & unravels over decades.
Why do we not see the brain as an organ that can be damaged?
Why do we not see the brain as an organ that can be damaged?
I very much enjoyed Dan Lie’s Sleeping Methodologies at Spike Island gallery.
This is me on a Sunday with an extra hour to play with.
This is me on a Sunday with an extra hour to play with.
October 26, 2025 at 9:03 AM
I very much enjoyed Dan Lie’s Sleeping Methodologies at Spike Island gallery.
This is me on a Sunday with an extra hour to play with.
This is me on a Sunday with an extra hour to play with.