Dr David R Brake
@drbrake.bsky.social
Journalist, policy wonk (transit, urban planning, EVs, climate, internet/media regulation), PhD (Media@LSE), dad, newly-adoptive Britghtonian
I checked out @brianphillips.bsky.social's other recent work and this piece was a letdown - mainly because it does not deliver on the headline... which is also grammatically incorrect! Probably @theringer.com.web.brid.gy's fault though. www.theringer.com/2025/11/04/t...
November 27, 2025 at 2:55 PM
I checked out @brianphillips.bsky.social's other recent work and this piece was a letdown - mainly because it does not deliver on the headline... which is also grammatically incorrect! Probably @theringer.com.web.brid.gy's fault though. www.theringer.com/2025/11/04/t...
I don't know how it is that I missed this invaluable @ifbookspod.bsky.social podcast featuring the always entertaining and thorough @michaelhobbes.bsky.social but now I've got some ironing to do and some terrible books to not read!
November 22, 2025 at 7:46 PM
I don't know how it is that I missed this invaluable @ifbookspod.bsky.social podcast featuring the always entertaining and thorough @michaelhobbes.bsky.social but now I've got some ironing to do and some terrible books to not read!
I think @ketanjoshi.co first pointed me to the @iea.org claim AI-led energy efficiencies would more than compensate for the industry's actual usage. I just looked up the claim to find the justification behind the pretty graphs... and there doesn't seem to be any?! www.iea.org/reports/ener...
November 21, 2025 at 6:50 PM
I think @ketanjoshi.co first pointed me to the @iea.org claim AI-led energy efficiencies would more than compensate for the industry's actual usage. I just looked up the claim to find the justification behind the pretty graphs... and there doesn't seem to be any?! www.iea.org/reports/ener...
The writing has been on the wall for a while but here it is - the CDC website is now officially spouting dangerous nonsense. www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safe...
November 20, 2025 at 7:02 PM
The writing has been on the wall for a while but here it is - the CDC website is now officially spouting dangerous nonsense. www.cdc.gov/vaccine-safe...
3/3 You need to do your homework @willdunn.bsky.social - the basic rate wasn't "the same for 50 years". More like 18 years. 50 years ago it was 35% (www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossar...)
I think the leap in marginal rates from 20% to 40% is the problem. There should be a middle class 30%-ish rate
I think the leap in marginal rates from 20% to 40% is the problem. There should be a middle class 30%-ish rate
November 15, 2025 at 7:05 PM
3/3 You need to do your homework @willdunn.bsky.social - the basic rate wasn't "the same for 50 years". More like 18 years. 50 years ago it was 35% (www.economicshelp.org/blog/glossar...)
I think the leap in marginal rates from 20% to 40% is the problem. There should be a middle class 30%-ish rate
I think the leap in marginal rates from 20% to 40% is the problem. There should be a middle class 30%-ish rate
I hope this does get made and that it is preserved through history as a warning of how even a celebration of 250 years of a (flawed) struggle for liberty can be corrupted to serve a would-be tyrant.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/u...
November 9, 2025 at 1:48 PM
I hope this does get made and that it is preserved through history as a warning of how even a celebration of 250 years of a (flawed) struggle for liberty can be corrupted to serve a would-be tyrant.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/u...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/09/u...
I have never been so happy to see an error message - pushing on towards 200,000 I imagine. Or is it passed already?!
November 4, 2025 at 3:09 PM
I have never been so happy to see an error message - pushing on towards 200,000 I imagine. Or is it passed already?!
After World War II the US had a scandalous secret program to smuggle in Nazis who had skills the country wanted. Trump seems to want to bring in neo-Nazis from Europe openly and *because* of their views. A new low... www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...
October 15, 2025 at 6:46 PM
After World War II the US had a scandalous secret program to smuggle in Nazis who had skills the country wanted. Trump seems to want to bring in neo-Nazis from Europe openly and *because* of their views. A new low... www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...
Morbidly curious to hear what the loathsome Jenrick had to say. But I couldn't help thinking on seeing this pic "if you want to find a scary cultural ghetto, look no further"! And the backslapping public joviality I heard at this tory conference was painful...
October 8, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Morbidly curious to hear what the loathsome Jenrick had to say. But I couldn't help thinking on seeing this pic "if you want to find a scary cultural ghetto, look no further"! And the backslapping public joviality I heard at this tory conference was painful...
Happy to hear about hcommons.org which seems to be a thing I have been looking for all along - a quick and easy way to be my own repository for my academic work without having a creepy corporation monentising the process.
September 17, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Happy to hear about hcommons.org which seems to be a thing I have been looking for all along - a quick and easy way to be my own repository for my academic work without having a creepy corporation monentising the process.
Wasn't a lot of this based around a hotel lobby? "People coming, going. Nothing ever happens"
September 17, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Wasn't a lot of this based around a hotel lobby? "People coming, going. Nothing ever happens"
And last but not least, a 'treat' for the actual planners among us. This you? Dare I ask for your favorite "urban planner in gnome outfit" pix to add to this thread?
August 9, 2025 at 7:28 PM
And last but not least, a 'treat' for the actual planners among us. This you? Dare I ask for your favorite "urban planner in gnome outfit" pix to add to this thread?
I don't think they knew better at the time but the Dutch among others have taught us that in dense urban areas it's actually best not to have too many (st)roads that are "smooth, 'safe' and wide"
August 9, 2025 at 7:26 PM
I don't think they knew better at the time but the Dutch among others have taught us that in dense urban areas it's actually best not to have too many (st)roads that are "smooth, 'safe' and wide"
This one just hits oddly - a little stealth reactionary bucolic rhetoric here?
August 9, 2025 at 7:24 PM
This one just hits oddly - a little stealth reactionary bucolic rhetoric here?
Admittedly these were torn down to make underground trains, but I would still be happy to see more elevated or ground-level light rail
August 9, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Admittedly these were torn down to make underground trains, but I would still be happy to see more elevated or ground-level light rail
And if this (in a children's book!) seems pretty raw, look up the rates of traffic injury and fatalities in the early 20th century. But some of the letters I would want to argue with...
August 9, 2025 at 7:17 PM
And if this (in a children's book!) seems pretty raw, look up the rates of traffic injury and fatalities in the early 20th century. But some of the letters I would want to argue with...
This made me nostalgic - if you wrote these days about "Union that makes us all strong" in a book aimed at young children, would it make it past any editor?
August 9, 2025 at 7:14 PM
This made me nostalgic - if you wrote these days about "Union that makes us all strong" in a book aimed at young children, would it make it past any editor?
... ideally if you can walk or cycle to them safely in a reasonable amount of time. Say, 15 minutes?
August 9, 2025 at 7:09 PM
... ideally if you can walk or cycle to them safely in a reasonable amount of time. Say, 15 minutes?
Car buyers were sold financing packages by dealers who were given secret commissions to prefer certain providers. Lower courts said this was illegal. The supreme court apparently thinks we *should* live in a world where we have to be on our guard 24/7 to avoid being ripped off. And the reaction?
August 2, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Car buyers were sold financing packages by dealers who were given secret commissions to prefer certain providers. Lower courts said this was illegal. The supreme court apparently thinks we *should* live in a world where we have to be on our guard 24/7 to avoid being ripped off. And the reaction?
🧵 Every so often the @financialtimes.com reminds you whose side it's on. The government is reportedly relieved. Banks have been given a break. Car dealers off the hook. Who isn't relieved? Ripped off consumers. www.ft.com/content/7084...
August 2, 2025 at 1:09 PM
🧵 Every so often the @financialtimes.com reminds you whose side it's on. The government is reportedly relieved. Banks have been given a break. Car dealers off the hook. Who isn't relieved? Ripped off consumers. www.ft.com/content/7084...
Just a glitch in the video download causing the error but I feel it improves the ad…
July 30, 2025 at 10:02 PM
Just a glitch in the video download causing the error but I feel it improves the ad…
Are there going to be hustings in the South East for the party leadership, @greenparty.org.uk @zackpolanski.bsky.social @elliechowns.bsky.social ? Notionally they will happen tomorrow, somewhere. Do you not think that people in Brighton might be interested in speaking directly to the candidates?
July 22, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Are there going to be hustings in the South East for the party leadership, @greenparty.org.uk @zackpolanski.bsky.social @elliechowns.bsky.social ? Notionally they will happen tomorrow, somewhere. Do you not think that people in Brighton might be interested in speaking directly to the candidates?
Oops - right. It just isn't on your page yet. And judging from that you could update this with a chart for Amazon. Looks like at worst it has the power consumption of Switzerland or Portugal?! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...
July 18, 2025 at 1:26 PM
Oops - right. It just isn't on your page yet. And judging from that you could update this with a chart for Amazon. Looks like at worst it has the power consumption of Switzerland or Portugal?! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...