Will Davies
@will-davies.bsky.social
Professor @goldsmithsuol.bsky.social, Director of @goldperc.bsky.social - occasional contributor to @lrb.co.uk and others.
Subscribe for latest writing etc at Williamdavies.blog
Subscribe for latest writing etc at Williamdavies.blog
I’ll have another pint of your best Ozempic thanks barman!
November 14, 2025 at 7:25 PM
I’ll have another pint of your best Ozempic thanks barman!
Important and remarkably timely piece by @trillingual.bsky.social in @equatormag.bsky.social www.equator.org/articles/ins...
Inside the BBC’s Gaza Fiasco • EQUATOR
How the world’s most trusted media organisation fell apart
www.equator.org
November 14, 2025 at 3:09 PM
Important and remarkably timely piece by @trillingual.bsky.social in @equatormag.bsky.social www.equator.org/articles/ins...
Raise the rate of gambling tax and then class all asset purchases as 'gambling', job done
November 14, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Raise the rate of gambling tax and then class all asset purchases as 'gambling', job done
After the ‘smorgasbord’ or tax rises, can I suggest the ‘small plates’ of public service improvements? Expensive and disappointing but generate good Insta-content.
November 14, 2025 at 1:48 PM
After the ‘smorgasbord’ or tax rises, can I suggest the ‘small plates’ of public service improvements? Expensive and disappointing but generate good Insta-content.
Turns out the temporary alliance between "writing stuff" and "meaning stuff" was good actually
November 14, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Turns out the temporary alliance between "writing stuff" and "meaning stuff" was good actually
fwiw they would have got murdered over the income tax rise, and the drum-beat of apocalyptic warnings of ungovernability would have become deafening. Easy on here to be IFS-brained about this and forget exactly why they bottled it.
November 14, 2025 at 9:27 AM
fwiw they would have got murdered over the income tax rise, and the drum-beat of apocalyptic warnings of ungovernability would have become deafening. Easy on here to be IFS-brained about this and forget exactly why they bottled it.
Starmer worried that if he 'sacked' one of his aides, they might just turn up for work as normal tomorrow anyway
November 13, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Starmer worried that if he 'sacked' one of his aides, they might just turn up for work as normal tomorrow anyway
The last decent coffee in New Cross is now the cafe created (and branded) by the developers of some new flats for purposes of rent hikes/asset appreciation
November 13, 2025 at 12:36 PM
The last decent coffee in New Cross is now the cafe created (and branded) by the developers of some new flats for purposes of rent hikes/asset appreciation
Reposted by Will Davies
NEW EPISODE: Why the right wins online - and what the left need to learn
Why are right-wing influencers so successful? What does the left need to learn? What do we do when biggest platforms are owned by billionaires?
Ayeisha is joined by Dunya Kamal & @will-davies.bsky.social 1/2
Why are right-wing influencers so successful? What does the left need to learn? What do we do when biggest platforms are owned by billionaires?
Ayeisha is joined by Dunya Kamal & @will-davies.bsky.social 1/2
November 13, 2025 at 11:00 AM
NEW EPISODE: Why the right wins online - and what the left need to learn
Why are right-wing influencers so successful? What does the left need to learn? What do we do when biggest platforms are owned by billionaires?
Ayeisha is joined by Dunya Kamal & @will-davies.bsky.social 1/2
Why are right-wing influencers so successful? What does the left need to learn? What do we do when biggest platforms are owned by billionaires?
Ayeisha is joined by Dunya Kamal & @will-davies.bsky.social 1/2
What does 'briefing' actually mean in this absurd Downing Street story? You ring up your trusted hack and say "hi, I'd like to file a brief against Wes Streeting?" Surely you need to share some actual beef or gossip that harms the target
November 13, 2025 at 10:24 AM
What does 'briefing' actually mean in this absurd Downing Street story? You ring up your trusted hack and say "hi, I'd like to file a brief against Wes Streeting?" Surely you need to share some actual beef or gossip that harms the target
Not often that I think the world needs Tony Blair's thoughts on a topic, but would watch a 60 minute interview with him on the topic of Epstein
November 13, 2025 at 9:54 AM
Not often that I think the world needs Tony Blair's thoughts on a topic, but would watch a 60 minute interview with him on the topic of Epstein
You wouldn’t know the scientific journal, it goes to another school
November 12, 2025 at 8:00 PM
You wouldn’t know the scientific journal, it goes to another school
Reposted by Will Davies
Hey, The Times history editors, I have some diaries to sell you
Exclusive: Adolf Hitler’s DNA has been sequenced by scientists
It has:
- shown he had a disorder which impacted his sexual development
- debunked rumours about his ancestry
- shown a high likelihood that he had a neurodivergent condition and/or bipolar disorder
www.thetimes.com/article/e728...
It has:
- shown he had a disorder which impacted his sexual development
- debunked rumours about his ancestry
- shown a high likelihood that he had a neurodivergent condition and/or bipolar disorder
www.thetimes.com/article/e728...
Hitler had hidden genetic sexual disorder, DNA analysis reveals
The Nazi dictator had Kallmann syndrome, which hinders normal puberty and the development of sexual organs, according to groundbreaking research
www.thetimes.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Hey, The Times history editors, I have some diaries to sell you
Streeting praising Starmer by comparing him favourably to "10 Downing Street" is quite the neg
November 12, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Streeting praising Starmer by comparing him favourably to "10 Downing Street" is quite the neg
Reposted by Will Davies
Of all the staggering detail in that New Statesman piece, this but stood out for me. People were reluctant to tell Starmer Miliband had refused to move? Not sure whether it’s Starmer or his aides that look worse here.
November 12, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Of all the staggering detail in that New Statesman piece, this but stood out for me. People were reluctant to tell Starmer Miliband had refused to move? Not sure whether it’s Starmer or his aides that look worse here.
The super ego. They invented the super ego.
in a long life filled with saying stupid shit this is may be the stupidest shit he's ever said
November 11, 2025 at 8:41 PM
The super ego. They invented the super ego.
Anyone know what Robbie Gibb's equivalent of 'people laughing at Musk smoking weed on Rogan', 'Vance noticing people didn't like the Netflix Hillbilly Elegy', 'Trump getting roasted by Obama at press dinner' or 'Andreesen getting sick of people making fun of his pointy head' is?
November 11, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Anyone know what Robbie Gibb's equivalent of 'people laughing at Musk smoking weed on Rogan', 'Vance noticing people didn't like the Netflix Hillbilly Elegy', 'Trump getting roasted by Obama at press dinner' or 'Andreesen getting sick of people making fun of his pointy head' is?
Great piece by Fred Turner on the pivot from Californian ideology of connection (which built the web) to Texan ideology of extraction and theocracy thebaffler.com/salvos/the-t...
thebaffler.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:46 AM
Great piece by Fred Turner on the pivot from Californian ideology of connection (which built the web) to Texan ideology of extraction and theocracy thebaffler.com/salvos/the-t...
Reposted by Will Davies
A piece I wrote about the manufactured ‘impartiality’ panics that greeted Tim Davie’s arrival just over 5 years ago, when GB News was still a glint in Robbie Gibbs’ eye www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
William Davies · Short Cuts: Woke Conspiracies
A British equivalent of Fox News, wherever it may come from, would have its own distinctive character – less...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:12 PM
A piece I wrote about the manufactured ‘impartiality’ panics that greeted Tim Davie’s arrival just over 5 years ago, when GB News was still a glint in Robbie Gibbs’ eye www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
The tweets below demonstrate that impartiality was always a trap. If the issues are GIDS and Gaza (which is the implication), it should be possible to report on them without caring what either the Telegraph or Novara say in response. Once you have to 'balance' the two, obviously the former will win
If old farts have gone mean as fuck and viciously reactionary with age, then it’s not clear to me that young people are to blame for this or that it’s obviously them who should shut the hell up.
November 11, 2025 at 7:45 AM
The tweets below demonstrate that impartiality was always a trap. If the issues are GIDS and Gaza (which is the implication), it should be possible to report on them without caring what either the Telegraph or Novara say in response. Once you have to 'balance' the two, obviously the former will win
A piece I wrote about the manufactured ‘impartiality’ panics that greeted Tim Davie’s arrival just over 5 years ago, when GB News was still a glint in Robbie Gibbs’ eye www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
William Davies · Short Cuts: Woke Conspiracies
A British equivalent of Fox News, wherever it may come from, would have its own distinctive character – less...
www.lrb.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 8:12 PM
A piece I wrote about the manufactured ‘impartiality’ panics that greeted Tim Davie’s arrival just over 5 years ago, when GB News was still a glint in Robbie Gibbs’ eye www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
"Hey, student, we saw you from across the bar and really dig your vibe. Can we buy you a drink?"
November 10, 2025 at 2:06 PM
"Hey, student, we saw you from across the bar and really dig your vibe. Can we buy you a drink?"
Eventually ‘impartiality’ will mean no human editors, producers or directors, just a vast archive of things that have been captured on camera to be mined, and quite a few things that haven’t happened but might as well have done
November 10, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Eventually ‘impartiality’ will mean no human editors, producers or directors, just a vast archive of things that have been captured on camera to be mined, and quite a few things that haven’t happened but might as well have done
Reposted by Will Davies
bro are you fucking kidding me
![quote from the Economist article which says "[study authors] are now looking at whether AI facial analysis can give lenders useful clues about a person’s propensity to repay loans. For people without access to credit, that could be a blessing."](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:6ofjbklfvptnupad4lxumblw/bafkreia3yctiqd7ejumpd6novxjpiycphtfkc3bdgd573jw37faqdl7o7m@jpeg)
November 6, 2025 at 5:59 PM
bro are you fucking kidding me