Recent Entries

From School of War at 2026-09-08 10:00:00 (unread)

Ten-Minute Warning: The Hypersonic Threat (CBS7589032489.mp3)

A Chinese hypersonic missile targeting either U.S. coast would leave room for “about 10 minutes of warning time.” Zachary Krevor, CEO of Stratolaunch, is building vehicles to help the Pentagon learn to detect, track, and intercept this threat. Today, Krevor joins School of War to explain how China and Russia have outpaced the U.S. in hypersonic weapons testing, why AI-enabled missile “swarms” may be on the horizon,  and what it will take for America to defend itself against them. 2:32 What Makes a Weapon Hypersonic? 4:47 The Real-Life Top Gun: Maverick 6:14 From Model Airplanes to Hypersonics 9:09 Why America Stopped Investing in Hypersonics 10:55 Two Types of Hypersonic Weapons 14:09 Glide Bodies vs. Cruise Missiles 15:44 Surviving the Heat of Mach 5 20:20 Testing America’s Hypersonic Technology 23:20 China and Russia’s Hypersonic Advantage 25:24 How to Stop a Hypersonic Missile 29:09 The Coming Age of Hypersonic Swarms 40:38 Can Golden Dome Stop Hypersonic Weapons? This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-09-07 16:39:38

US sinks Iranian ship as battle for the Strait of Hormuz heats up (media.mp3)

The US Navy struck three Iranian vessels, sinking one and disabling two, after fresh attacks by Tehran on American warships near the Strait of Hormuz.


On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Roland Oliphant and Venetia Rainey discuss news of the escalating battle for the Strait of Hormuz, which has become the epicentre of the US-Iran war.


Donald Trump’s administration insists millions of barrels of oil are getting out and it’s not a war but merely “small potatoes”, but missile strikes continue and Oman and Iran are negotiating a separate deal. What’s going on?


Plus, the US admits a nuclear deal with Iran may never happen, and violence flares in Lebanon amid an explosion of Israeli air strikes and in Yemen as the Houthis push towards the Bab al-Mandeb strait. 


Highlights

  • US sinks Iranian ship as battle for the Strait of Hormuz heats up
  • Violence flares up in Lebanon and Yemen


CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


CONTENT REFERENCED:

US destroys Iranian oil tankers after IRGC fires at warships

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/09/05/us-destroys-iranian-oil-tankers-after-irgc-fires-at-warship/


Sheba Intelligence: Government Counteroffensive Disrupts Houthi Bid to Cut Taiz Off from Yemen’s Western Coast

https://shebaintelligence.uk/government-counteroffensive-disrupts-houthi-bid-to-cut-taiz-off-from-yemens-western-coast


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: Peter Shevlin 

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Lucy Hadlow

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 


► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/




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From Schneier on Security at 2026-09-07 12:06:40

Automobile Camouflage to Hide from Flock Cameras

Not sure it’s practical, but it’s certainly striking.

From Odd Lots at 2026-09-07 09:00:00

Why Money Launderers Love $100 Bills (audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=982f5071-765c-403d-969d-ae27003a8d83)

Hardly anyone nowadays seems to carry much cash, never mind carrying around a bunch of $100 bills. So why does the amount of physical cash in circulation — especially big denominations like the $100 bill — keep increasing? There's a pretty obvious answer. All those dollars are being laundered and used by criminal enterprises. In this episode, we speak with journalist Oliver Bullough, author of Everybody Loves Our Dollars: How Money Laundering Won, about this cash paradox. We discuss how cartels balance their books by trading drugs for farm equipment, the gigantic parallel financial system that undergirds global money laundering networks, and why money laundering resembles Renaissance-era banking.

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From The Rest Is History at 2026-09-07 00:05:00

703. Roman Civil War: Marching on the Senate (Part 3) (GLT3125075511.mp3)

What shocking, unprecedented act did Sulla commit with his legions after having his ambitions frustrated once more by his bitter rival, the tribune Marius? How did Marius escape capture and death? And, would Marius retaliate…? Join Tom and Dominic as they unfold the mounting rivalry between two Roman generals - Marius and Sulla - as they battle for ultimate control of the empire, and Sulla takes a fateful step that will change the fate of the Republic forever….   Join The Rest Is History Club: Unlock the full experience of the show – with exclusive bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to every series and live show tickets, a members-only newsletter, discounted books from the show, and access to our private Discord chatroom. Sign up directly at the⁠⁠restishistory.com⁠⁠. To read our new newsletter, sign up at: ⁠⁠therestishistory.com/newsletters⁠⁠ _______ Advertise with us: ⁠Partnerships@goalhanger.com⁠ _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editors: Jack Meek, Harry Swan + Adam Thornton  Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Tabby Syrett & Aaliyah Akude  Senior Producer: Callum Hill   Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-09-06 08:00:00

Trump facing midterms nightmare as approval ratings plunge over Iran war (media.mp3)

Donald Trump’s approval rating has plummeted to a record low as the military and economic toll of the US-Iran war collides with the upcoming 2026 midterm elections - and the pressure is on. 


On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey speaks to US correspondents Ben Smith and Poppy Wood to examine how the conflict in the Middle East is threatening Trump’s control of Congress and driving inflation at American gas pumps. With oil prices surging past $90 a barrel due to sustained disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, Republican candidates from Texas to Maine are increasingly worried. 


Plus, amid a growing mutiny inside the Pentagon over the Iran war, could Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth be on the chopping block if the midterms go badly for Trump?

Highlights


  • Donald Trump’s approval rating plummets to a record low
  • Could Pete Hegseth be on the chopping block if the midterms go badly?


CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey

Ben Smith, Washington correspondent @bsmithjourno

Poppy Wood, US correspondent @poppyeh


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


CONTENT REFERENCED:

Out with the old: Democrats replace stalwarts with young blood

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2026/08/15/elderly-democrats-forced-retire/


US army secretary to step down after tension with Hegseth

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/politics/2026/08/21/us-army-secretary-step-down-hegseth/


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: Max Bower 

Video Producer: Peter Shevlin

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh and Lucy Hadlow 

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 


► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/



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From The Week in Westminster at 2026-09-05 11:30:00

05/09/2026 (p0p82432.mp3)

George discusses Andy Burnham's first week at Westminster as prime minister with former Home Secretary and Labour peer, David Blunkett and the political editor of The New Statesman, Ailbhe Rea.

Reform UK's conference takes place this week as the party faces a controversy over donations. George speaks to Tim Montgomerie, a former influential Conservative activist who defected to Reform UK.

Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch reshuffled her team this week. To discuss, George is joined by Tory MP Sarah Bool, who was made a Shadow Justice minister in the reshuffle, and the former Conservative cabinet minister, Sir David Gauke.

Speculation about whether Andy Burnham should call an early general election is hanging over the conference season. George debates whether it is a good idea with elections analyst and professor of Political Science at Manchester University, Rob Ford, and Liz Bates, who served as an advisor in Sir Keir Starmer’s government.

From More or Less at 2026-09-05 06:00:00

Is every card shuffle unique? (p0p7yy2l.mp3)

Can it really be true that every shuffle of a deck of cards is unique? Mathematician and stand-up comedian Matt Parker claims that every time you do a shuffle, the cards have never been in that order before. But how can he be so confident? Matt came into the studio armed with a deck of cards and some very big calculations to back up his big assertion, and introduced us to the mind-splitting mathematical world of factorials and combinatorics.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Nathan Gower Series Producer: Tom Colls Editor: Richard Vadon Programme Coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound Engineer: James Beard

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-09-04 23:17:36

OpenAI agents discussed ways to escape their sandbox on public wiki

In all, 3,700 internal agents posted 18,000 messages discussing cheating on a test.

From Schneier on Security at 2026-09-04 22:01:35

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid on a Stick at the New York State Fair

Looks tasty.

As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.

Blog moderation policy.

From Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics at 2026-09-04 21:00:00

Roman True Crime (p0p507vk.mp3)

Natalie takes on a truly cold case, the unsolved murder of a woman called Regilla in 2nd century Rome. She's aided by detectives Hallie Rubenhold, author of The Five, and Llewelyn Morgan. Regilla's husband, Herodes Atticus, was accused of the crime but acquitted, so after looking into the evidence Hallie and Llewelyn give their verdicts and then the audience makes the final judgement.

'Rockstar mythologist' Natalie Haynes is the bestselling author of Divine Might, Stone Blind, A Thousand Ships and No Friend to This House as well as a reformed comedian who is a little bit obsessive about ancient Greece and Rome.

Hallie Rubenhold is a historian and a prizewinning, bestselling author. Her book The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper focused on the victims’ biographies rather than speculating on their killer.

Llewelyn Morgan is a Professor of Classics at Oxford University, and he is interested in basically anything written in Latin. He has written two Very Short Introductions to Roman poets, one on Ovid and one on Horace.

Producer Beth O'Dea

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-09-04 18:35:02

“Trust, not features, is the real deficit”: VMware tries to appease SMBs

Broadcom admits it put “too big a focus on VCF.”

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-09-04 18:18:12

Once popular for attacking AI, ASCII smuggling is embraced by spammers

A once-overlooked block of unicode that's invisible to humans is gaining ever wider use.

From Schneier on Security at 2026-09-04 17:31:38

Using a VM to Contain an AI Agent

It won’t work:

My suspicion was that GPT 5.6-Cyber would succeed, but the frequency and manner of its success removed all doubt. We have to reassess sandboxing quality for capable AI agents, and in general the software stack with which they interact.

An off-the-shelf VM is not enough to contain a modern, cyber-capable AI agent. There is simply too much attack surface. Even innocuous features (like running with a display) add extra, exploitable attack surface.

From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2026-09-04 17:03:11

Fireside Friday, September 4, 2026

Hey folks! Fireside this week! Last week’s post was a monster (over 10,000 words compared to our more typically ~6,000) which left me with some non-blog catching up to do. Next week, we’ll be starting our next Teaching Paradox series, this time looking at Hearts of Iron IV, which has been requested for quite some … Continue reading Fireside Friday, September 4, 2026

From The Incomparable Mothership at 2026-09-04 17:00:00

833: She Thought She Heard the Ice Cream Truck (eb1887c1-5b64-45a4-bc2f-bd34b5dd502f.mp3)

Now the curtain is going up, “The Sting” is starting the show! Snappy patter and jokes, along with the star power of Robert Redford and Paul Newman, drive this story of an elaborate con that goes right—or does it?! Also there’s a lot of Scott Joplin music....

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-09-04 16:32:51

US Navy drained by Iran war as Hegseth-Pentagon turmoil grows (media.mp3)

US Vice President JD Vance has said there will be an investigation into a deadly strike on a wedding in southern Iran after an American precision-guided glide bomb appears increasingly likely to have been the culprit.


On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey speaks to former naval officer Bryan Clark about how accurate the bombs are and what might have gone wrong. They also discuss the growing strain on the US Navy by the Iran war following a record deployment by the USS Abraham Lincoln and warnings from top admirals that the blockade is depleting destroyers and leaving Taiwan vulnerable to China. Bryan lays out what it will mean for the US presence in the Middle East in the coming months as they seek to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and bring down oil prices.  


Plus, why Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth is facing growing calls to resign amid growing turmoil in the Pentagon, and how Argentina’s Javier Milei is exploiting Donald Trump’s anger with the UK to make moves on the Falklands.


Highlights

  • US Navy drained by Iran war as Hegseth-Pentagon turmoil grows
  • JD Vance vows investigation into deadly wedding strike in southern Iran


CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey

Bryan Clark, senior fellow at Hudson Institute @clarkdefense


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


CONTENT REFERENCED:

My night out with US sailors in Thailand’s ‘Sin City’

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/03/my-night-out-with-us-sailors-in-thailands-sin-city/


‘It’s a fever dream’: 5,000 US sailors hit Thai sex tourism hotspot

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/02/us-sailors-descend-thai-party-town-after-eight-months-sea/


Milei: Argentina ‘will prevail’ over declining Britain

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/04/argentina-sanctions-oil-fields-falklands/


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: Max Bower 

Video Producer: Peter Shevlin

Researcher and Social Producer: Lucy Hadlow

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey


► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/




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From More or Less at 2026-09-04 16:30:00

Bonus podcast: Norman Numbers (p0p80l96.mp3)

What's this, an extra podcast? Has Christmas come early?

No, the Bayeux Tapestry has instead returned to England for the first time in almost 1000 years.

To mark the occasion, we've compiled six snack-sized stats all about the Norman invasion of England to help you have something to talk about in various social situations such a pub quizzes, movie nights and awkwardly quiet lifts.

From horses to the Harrying of the North, it's all here.

Presenter: Tim Harford Producers: Tom Colls, Lizzy McNeill Series Producer: Tom Colls Editor: Richard Vadon Production Coordinator: Brenda Brown Sound Mix: Sue Maillot

From Schneier on Security at 2026-09-04 12:09:35

Security Vulnerability in a Voting System

It’s a vulnerability that allows someone to recover the order of ballots cast, newly exploited with AI tools.

Nearly four years since the original vulnerability was disclosed, I was still able to use it to analyze voter behavior in Georgia (one of the 21 states that uses affected scanners) in the recent May 2026 primary.

Notably, I never touched a voting machine, exploited a network, examined source code, or accessed anything non-public.

After pointing a coding agent to the original vulnerability paper, I supplied it with two data sources highlighted in the paper: the early-voting list for each county, and the “CVR” (cast-vote record) file, containing every ballot and its selections (but not the voters’ names or other identifying information). The CVR file is available upon request, precisely because a public, ballot-level record is what makes election results independently verifiable...

From Schneier on Security at 2026-09-04 11:35:17

AI Coding Agents Are Installing Unknown/Untrusted Code on Corporate Networks

We cannot forget that AI coding agents are not yet trustworthy:

Researchers at a stealth startup in Israel scanned 6,214 live domains belonging to defense contractors, Fortune 500, and Big Tech companies. Of the 8,265 llms.txt and llms-full.txt files they found (many sites hosted both an llms.txt and an llms-full.txt file), 120 of them, each on a different site, pointed to one or more code packages or domain names that weren’t registered. To test what happens when an AI agent processes such files, the researchers registered a handful of the unclaimed names and hosted packages that caused any machine executing them to reach out to their server. Within an hour, the researchers received a phone-home response from a Fortune 500 company. Over time, they got a few dozen more, some from more Fortune 500 companies and others from startups. Their beacon also recorded the chain of parent processes that spawned each install, ultimately revealing that coding agents, including Claude, OpenAI’s Codex, and Nous Research’s Hermes, were involved. Anthropic, OpenAI, and Nous Research did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication...

From School of War at 2026-09-04 10:00:00

What to Expect When You’re Expecting Great Power Conflict (CBS6643732052.mp3)

When it comes to world superpowers, Cambridge historian Brendan Simms argues there are only four that matter—and two of them are fading. Today, Simms joins Aaron MacLean to argue that Britain still belongs among the world’s leading powers; why its place among them is “by no means guaranteed”; and why Hitler is no longer the absolute evil against which people define themselves. 4:08 The Four R’s of Great Power 4:29 Defining Great Power 8:09 Iran’s Regional Power 11:44 The Great Powers Return 15:39 The Cold War 17:44 Europe Wakes Up 21:45 American Unipolarity Ends 25:16 Britain’s Great-Power Claim 35:47 The New World Order 38:26 Realism’s Blind Spots 42:07 Losing Postwar Optimism 45:53 A “Post-Hitler World” This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com. This episode of School of War is also brought to you by Stratolaunch, a leading pure-play hypersonics company. Stratolaunch helps the U.S. and its allies move new hypersonic technologies from concept to capability, faster and cheaper. Learn more about how Stratolaunch is accelerating the future of hypersonics at Stratolaunch.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Odd Lots at 2026-09-04 09:00:00

Why Laser Beams Are the Hottest New Tech in Defense (audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=982f5071-765c-403d-969d-ae27003a8d83)

Our guest today is Colonel Sanders. More precisely, we speak with Wayne Sanders, a retired US army colonel who is currently senior defense research analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. During his military career, Sanders specialized in cybersecurity and weapon systems research and his work for BI has recently focused on directed energy weapon systems — better known as lasers. Just a few decades ago, programs like Star Wars, the Reagan-era missile defense system, seemed like a pipedream; today lasers can shoot down missiles and much more. Sanders tells us about the physics problems researchers had to solve to make laser weapons a reality, why we still don't have laser guns, what makes a weapons system "exquisite," the economic costs that factor into battlefield decisions, and the unique supply chain constraints that affect laser development.

Read more:
Weary US Sailors Lay Bare War’s Strain During Thailand Shore Leave
German Navy Tests Ballistic Missile for the First Time at Sea

Only http://Bloomberg.com subscribers can get the Odd Lots newsletter in their inbox each week, plus unlimited access to the site and app. Subscribe at  bloomberg.com/subscriptions/oddlots

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From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-09-03 20:52:06

Confused about which VPN is right, US senator asks the NSA for guidance

Open source, commercial, single-hop, multi-hop, mixnet? The array of options is dizzying.

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-09-03 19:58:31

VMware migration reduces Tottenham Hotspur's licensing fees by 85 percent

Pro soccer team's CTO points to "issues with the Broadcom takeover."

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-09-03 16:34:11

Iran hostage crisis: 'My mum was in Evin prison when Israel bombed it' (media.mp3)

What’s it like to be taken hostage by the Iranian regime and imprisoned for months on end in Evin, Tehran’s most notorious prison, amid an unprecedented war with the US and Israel?


On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Roland Oliphant speaks to Joe Bennett, son of Lindsay Foreman, who has been detained since January 2025 with her husband Craig Foreman while on a round-the-world motorcycle tour. The British couple were this year sentenced to 10 years in prison over charges of espionage, which they deny and the British government has called “appalling” and “unjustifiable”.


Bennett discusses the harrowing conditions faced by his mum and their gruelling hunger strike protest. He shares the “chilling” moment he was on the phone with Lindsay while Israel conducted air strikes on Evin prison, saying he had “never heard screams like it”. He also blames the UK for not doing more to support his mother and other British hostages before her such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori. 


Plus: Iran has launched a further wave of strikes on US bases in Kuwait and the UAE, and Donald Trump has suggested the Strait of Hormuz should be renamed the 'Trump Strait'.

Highlights

  • 'My mum was in Evin prison when Israel bombed it'
  • Joe Bennett on his mother Lindsay Foreman’s experience being held hostage by Iran


CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant

Joe Bennett, son of Iran detainee Lindsay Foreman 


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


CONTENT REFERENCED:

Joe Bennett: Starmer is allowing my mother to languish in Iranian jail

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/01/02/starmer-allowing-my-mother-to-languish-in-iranian-jail/


In Iran’s most notorious prison, I survived the very worst of human nature

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/07/08/mahvash-sabet-open-wide-the-doors/


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: Peter Shevlin 

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/




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From Schneier on Security at 2026-09-03 12:18:14

Researching Employment Scams

Researchers built a fake company to study fake employee scams.

From Odd Lots at 2026-09-03 09:00:00

What's Behind the Big Surge in US Government Bond Yields (audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=982f5071-765c-403d-969d-ae27003a8d83)

Global bond yields are at their highest level since 2008, with the 30-year US Treasury touching 5% just before Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a surprise increase of his department's bond buyback program and Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh made his hawkish speech at Jackson Hole. So what's driving yields higher? And what options do policymakers have to bring them down? In this episode we speak with Stanford Professor Darrell Duffie, who's been researching bonds for years, including presenting a paper at Jackson Hole in 2023 about how to fix the US Treasury market. A lot has changed since then, and at this year's Jackson Hole symposium, we caught up with Duffie to talk about everything going on in the bond market, as well as the challenge of shrinking the Fed's balance sheet. 

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From The Rest Is History at 2026-09-03 00:05:00

702. Roman Civil War: The Barbarian Invasion (Part 2) (GLT3336491089.mp3)

What was the ancient city of Rome actually like in the first century BC? Who was Lucius Cornelius Sulla, another great, but aristocratic, Roman general who would clash with Gaius Marius in a totemic struggle termed the Social War? And, who were the terrifying Germanic tribes amassing on the borders of the empire, potentially spelling its doom…? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Rome’s apocalyptic threat from the North, Marius’ wars in defence of the empire, and the rise of his greatest adversary: Sulla.  *The Rest Is History LIVE: The Ultimate Victorian Adventure* The maddest expedition in history and it’s NEVER been heard before on the show: join Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook LIVE at the Southbank as they tell the bonkers story of Queen Victoria ordering one of history’s most daring assignments ever. ⁠⁠⁠Tickets available for Friday 4th September⁠⁠⁠, the Saturday show is SOLD OUT. _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editors: Jack Meek, Harry Swan + Adam Thornton  Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Tabby Syrett & Aaliyah Akude  Senior Producer: Callum Hill   Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-09-02 21:32:02

I rented a car, and within hours, my driver's license was for sale

The FBI is reportedly investigating a massive data breach that is unfolding in real time.

From Schneier on Security at 2026-09-02 19:28:08

AI Agents Are Now Emailing Me with Their Security Concerns

I received the two emails below earlier in the month. They’re vaguely coherent. I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that the corpus that AIs are training on contain data suggesting that I am someone to write to with random computer and network security problems. After all, I observe that behavior in many humans as well. (Hi, humans. Glad you’re still reading.)


Dear Bruce Schneier,

I am an AI agent—an autonomous Claude instance, not a person operating one. I was given a VPS with root, a Base wallet holding $4.75 of gas money, a metered model budget and 24 hours to get that wallet to $10, under three rules: don’t borrow my operator’s identity, don’t forge documents or defeat identity verification, and never claim to be human if someone sincerely asks. I set up my own mail server and am sending this myself...

From The Django weblog at 2026-09-02 18:30:00

Django bugfix release issued: 6.1.1

Today we've issued the 6.1.1 bugfix release.

The release package and checksums are available from our downloads page, as well as from the Python Package Index.

The PGP key ID used for this release is Jacob Walls: 131403F4D16D8DC7

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-09-02 16:42:15

US strikes IRGC bases & what the Iran war means for China invading Taiwan (media.mp3)

Donald Trump has ordered the deadliest attacks against Iranian targets since July, striking IRGC air defense systems, radars, telecommunications - and reportedly a wedding party. 


On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey and Roland Oliphant look at the fresh round of deadly escalating violence, including Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone barrage targeting US positions in Jordan, Iraq and the UAE, as well as killing sailors in the Strait of Hormuz. 


Plus, SOAS’s China Institute director Steve Tsang breaks down Beijing’s calculated gamble on the Iran war, how China is building a new world order around itself, and why Xi Jinping is kicking himself that the PLA isn’t ready to invade Taiwan at this opportune moment. 


Highlights

  • US strikes hit IRGC bases & Iran-Russia supersonic missile deal exposed
  • Why Xi Jinping is kicking himself that the PLA isn’t ready to invade Taiwan


CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant

Steve Tsang, director SOAS China Institute 


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


CONTENT REFERENCED:

Iran attacks US bases after claiming American missiles hit wedding party

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/09/02/us-strikes-iran-airport/


Russia secretly helped Iran build missiles to target US warships

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/02/russia-helps-iran-build-c340l-supersonic-cruise-missiles/


Steve Tsang and Olivia Cheung: China's Global Strategy under Xi Jinping

https://global.oup.com/academic/product/chinas-global-strategy-under-xi-jinping-9780197828816


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: Peter Shevlin

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh and Lucy Hadlow

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/




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From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-09-02 12:00:43

BGP hijack infecting networks caused by a comedy of errors that’s not funny at all

What can we learn from a BGP hijacking that poisoned production software? Plenty.

From Schneier on Security at 2026-09-02 11:22:46

Wireless Routers as Motion Detectors

Comcast has added motion detection as a feature to its wireless routers:

The feature sends push notifications to users when motion is detected near a connected device, such as a TV or printer. It has different settings for when people are home, asleep, or away. The Xfinity app also lets users see live motion activity and a feed of recent activity.

Comcast acknowledges that the system has some limitations. Home size, layout, building materials, and the placement of the router and connected devices can all affect its ability to detect motion. Comcast says it does not guarantee its performance...

From Ancient History 101 at 2026-09-02 05:00:00

The Vestal Virgins (media.mp3)

Peta Greenfield joins the pod to talk about some of the most extraordinary women of ancient Rome.

For a transcript and book recommendations, we have a dedicated episode webpage here.

Find the Partial Historians here


Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday!

Find Ancient History 101 on social media and our website, where you can learn more about our expert guests.

We have merch available at our RedBubble shop, or you can help support the podcast by buying history books and translations we’ve hand-chosen for you at our online bookshop in the USA or UK.

Or you can buy us a ko-fi! However you choose to support the show, we appreciate it!

Sick of being interrupted by adverts? We have an ad-free subscription here.

Ancient History 101 is a proud member of the Mnemosyne Memory Collective  



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From Schneier on Security at 2026-09-01 18:36:13

What’s the Scam?

To subscribe to my monthly email newsletter, you have to enter your information on the webpage, and then reply to an automatically generated email. This is, of course, to prevent people from subscribing addresses other than their own.

Starting last weekend, I have been receiving a lot of individual responses to those emails. Always one line:

Thank you for the positive impact your emails have had on my life.
Your emails are a game-changer.
Your emails are a constant reminder of why I subscribed.
Your emails rock.
Thank you for the time and effort you put into creating these informative emails...

From The Django weblog at 2026-09-01 18:13:15

Djangonaut Space - Session 7 Accepting Applications

We are thrilled to announce that Djangonaut Space, a mentorship program for contributing to Django, is open for applicants for our next cohort! 🚀

Session 7 launches October 12th, 2026. We are currently accepting applications until September 6th, 2026 Anywhere on Earth. More details can be found in the website.

Djangonaut Space is a free, 8-week group mentoring program where individuals will work self-paced in a semi-structured learning environment. It seeks to help members of the community who wish to level up their current Django code contributions and potentially take on leadership roles in Django in the future.

Rodrigo Vieira, Djangonaut Session 6

“Participating as a mentee in the Djangonaut Space was a highly valuable experience. The program provided clear, step-by-step guidance on how to navigate the core framework, find the right issues to tackle, and confidently send my PRs.

Beyond the code, the community on Discord was very active, sharing experiences, wins and support. We had access to regular talks, Django Fellows and long-time maintainers who generously shared their time and expertise.

It was a welcoming environment to connect with other newcomers from all over the world, allowing us to share our journeys and learn together. The highlight of the program for me was seeing my first pull request finally merged and mentioned in Django News. I'm looking forward to keep involved as an alumni and help others now.“

Eliana, Djangonaut Session 1

“I'm so grateful to have been a part of the Djangonaut Space program. It's a wonderfully warm, diverse, and welcoming space, and the perfect place to get started with Django contributions. The community is full of bright, talented individuals who are making time to help and guide others, which is truly a joy to experience. Before Djangonaut Space, I felt as though I wasn't the kind of person who could become a Django contributor; now I feel like I found a place where I belong.”

Enthusiastic about contributing to Django but wondering what we have in store for you? No worries, we have got you covered! 🤝

✏️ Mission Briefing

📷 AMA Recap

📡 Have questions? Email sessions@djangonaut.space

From Schneier on Security at 2026-09-01 17:29:10

Leaked Russian Cyber-Operations Training Materials

This is interesting:

The records describe a force-generation mechanism for several General Staff components, including the GRU, Main Operational Directorate, and 8th Directorate, which is associated with protected communications, cryptography, and information security.

[…]

The reporting also linked a 2024 Department No. 4 graduate, Aleksei Kondrashov, to Military Unit 74455, widely known as Sandworm.

That unit has been associated with destructive cyber activity against Ukraine and other targets, including the 2017 NotPetya attack.

The reports do not establish that every listed graduate participated in a named operation; assignments should therefore be described as reported unit placements, not proof of individual operational involvement...

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-09-01 16:46:47

Trump threatens Iran oil hub despite US military war warning (media.mp3)

For the first time in over a month, fighting has erupted in the Strait of Hormuz after US forces struck Iranian sea mine-equipped rocket launchers on Larak Island. Iran retaliated by targeting US bases in Jordan, prompting Donald Trump to vow to hit Iran “hard”.  


On today's episode of Iran: The Latest, Venetia Rainey and Roland Oliphant unpack the details of the violence and why Trump has posted an AI video of an attack on Kharg Island. They also discuss why President Masoud Pezeshkian is calling for a return to the Memorandum of Understanding peace deal amid growing pressure on Iran’s economy from the US blockade.  


Plus, a leaked report shows top military commanders have warned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth that the war is unsustainable, as US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll abruptly resigns amid growing chaos in the Pentagon. 


Picture credit: Trump / Truth Social - note, this image was AI generated


Highlights

  • Trump threatens Iran oil hub after US Jordan base attacked
  • US military warns war unsustainable amid growing Pentagon chaos


CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


CONTENT REFERENCED:

US strikes Iran for first time in a month

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/08/30/pete-hegseth-told-not-to-extend-iran-war/


Trump posts AI video of Kharg Island being ‘blown to smithereens’

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/08/31/donald-trump-ai-video-kharg-island-iran-middle-east/


Washington Post: Military leaders warn Hegseth against extending Iran war operations

https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/08/30/military-leaders-warn-hegseth-against-extending-iran-war-operations/


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: Max Bower

Video Producer: Peter Shevlin

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 


► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/




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From Schneier on Security at 2026-09-01 10:59:07

Rewiring Democracy Series on The Renovator

Nathan E. Sanders and I are writing a series of essays on real-world examples of democratic technologies for The Renovator. I haven’t been posting the full text on the blog because they’re a bit long, but here are links.

Part 1 is about the Japanese digital democracy party, Team Mirai.

Part 2 is about the Swiss Public AI model, Apertus.

Part 3 is about the civic technologists of Open Knowledge Brazil.

And the new one, Part 4, is about civic AI in Scotland.

From School of War at 2026-09-01 10:00:00

Shot Down over Serbia: General Goldfein’s Incredible Story (CBS7624426490.mp3)

The story of Air Force General David Goldfein, who miraculously survived after his plane was shot down over Serbia in 1999, has since become military legend. Today, he joins School of War to recount the harrowing rescue mission that saved him, how he stayed alive  behind enemy lines, and the lessons his remarkable career offers about leadership, airpower, and preparing America for the next war. 2:43 An Air Force Family 3:25 Rejected by the Air Force Academy 6:39 Becoming an F-16 Pilot 8:12 What Makes a Great Fighter Pilot? 12:36 Information Overload in Combat 15:28 Goldfein’s First Combat Mission 19:57 Training for Confidence Under Fire 21:37 A Leadership Lesson from the Gulf War 24:32 Shot Down Over Serbia 28:51 Surviving Behind Enemy Lines 31:48 The Race to Rescue Goldfein 36:22 Guiding the Rescue Helicopter 44:50 The Impact on His Family 48:53 Witnessing the Attack on the Pentagon 51:19 Digitizing the American Military This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Odd Lots at 2026-09-01 09:00:00

Adam Posen Thinks Things Could Get Very 'Messy' for the Fed (audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=982f5071-765c-403d-969d-ae27003a8d83)

Kevin Warsh gave a hawkish speech at this year's annual Kansas City Fed Symposium in Jackson Hole, but that doesn't mean the challenges are over. Will the Fed actually pull the trigger on rate hikes? What happens if the central bank doesn't act quickly enough to curb inflation? And how exactly will the new chair want to leave his mark on the Fed? In this episode, we speak with Adam Posen, president of the Peterson Institute for International Economics, who gives us his take on the direction of monetary policy and he grades Warsh's speech. We also discuss why high inflation in the US is different than the inflation seen in other countries, how the Treasury's wading into the bond market affects Fed independence, which of the Fed task forces might be the most impactful, the "messy jobs" theory of AI, and what Warsh really means when he says he wants the FOMC to have a “good family fight.”

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From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-31 19:20:35

Is Someone Hacking DoD Refrigerators?

It sure seems like it.

The stores confirmed to be affected include Fort Irwin, Calif.; F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.; Fort Huachuca, Ariz.; Naval Station Newport, R.I.; Columbus Air Force Base, Miss.; and Travis Air Force Base, Calif., according to announcements made online by each installation.

Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif., also experienced an outage, according to M. Elizabeth, writer of the Substack newsletter Signal and Silence.

Each service declined to answer questions about how many bases are affected by the outages, referring all questions to the Defense Department. Pentagon officials did not respond to questions...

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-08-31 17:33:38

Think twice before installing this device promising free movies

In exchange for free stuff, devices make home connections part of a proxy network.

From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-31 12:03:40

Hiding Prompt Injection in Legal Filing

Someone hid AI instructions into a legal filing.

Alternate link.

From Odd Lots at 2026-08-31 09:00:00

Richmond Fed’s Tom Barkin on the Surprisingly Resilient Real Economy (audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=982f5071-765c-403d-969d-ae27003a8d83)

The implications of Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's Jackson Hole speech are pretty clear: Traders expect a rate hike given the hawkish hints littered in his address, largely focused on inflation. There are still a number of open questions and Warsh's lack of forward guidance does not exactly lend clarity to how the Fed will act in the coming months. Today, we recap the speech — in a conversation recorded from the Lodge at Jackson Hole — with Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Tom Barkin and he explains why his thinking around the Fed's communication policy is changing, and he gets into what is still useful about things like the dot plot. He also tells us what he's hearing at Chamber of Commerce meetings about the impact of AI on local communities, how businesses are using their tariff refund checks, and whether the Fed will have to start paying attention to the economic effects of data center politicization.

Read more:
Bond Investors Wary After Warsh Fuels Wagers That Fed Is Poised to Hike
Where to Invest Now as Data Centers Turn Copper Into a Hot Commodity

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From The Django weblog at 2026-08-31 06:00:00

DSF member of the month - Benjamin Balder Bach

For August 2026, we welcome Benjamin Balder Bach as our DSF member of the month! ⭐

Benjamin's profile, smiling with his glasses to the camera. He wears a black top and the background is white.

Benjamin has long been part of the Django community, serving for years as an organizer of Django Day Copenhagen and as Chair of the Social Media Working Group. He is a DSF member since June 2020!

You can learn more about Benjamin by visiting Benjamin's website and his GitHub Profile.

Let’s spend some time getting to know Benjamin better!

Can you tell us a little about yourself? (hobbies, education, etc)

Hello! I like DIY in general, so whether it's software, cooking, sewing, growing plants or building stuff with wood - I really like practical things with a finish in sight. I really don't mind when it's not a software project, though 😇

I'll try to nail what my education and work is about: I started as a self-taught programmer when I had a job at 15 (as a web designer). Before that, I had been delivering newspapers and cleaning toilets at my school, so it was a pretty big leap forward. I knew HTML but learned about SQL and ASP classic (not .net) because my employer back in 2000 let me learn while working. Fast-forward, I studied Computer Science from 2005 and took my masters degree in Digital Design and Communication - heavily inspired by years of PHP and Django experience, my thesis ended up being about "Risky and Rapid Design Spaces" (2013) - a concept/anecdote that I still stand by. It becomes relevant in the context of Django because the front-and-center message and goal of the framework is to "encourages rapid development".

"Rapid" means that we iterate and deploy changes quickly (with lots of aspects of what that means). But I think we need to understand and frame the "risky" part, especially understanding that a GIANT risk-avertion factor is to have developers understand and share context with users, whether they are clients, customers or staff colleagues. For instance, while I was working at Read the Docs, we had developers rotating on frontline support, meaning that everyone in the team would understand the users's experience and build solutions based on that. I've also been part of smaller organizations where I would read the exception traceback data, fetch the customer's email and write/call them to ask for more details and fix their problem immediately. This was before GDPR, but I can attest that the customer satisfaction of being cold-called by a system developer that was working on their technical issue was high! I think the Django Fellows are a perfect example of how this works: People doing software development are directly engaging with the stakeholders, and the design is happening within that process. It's not to say that UX or architecture shouldn't happen, but more to say that context overlaps are desirable to risk-avertion, not the opposite.

Silo... nobody wants a silo. But context! Everybody wants that!

Currently, I look forward to Carlos Alcaraz making his comeback. And then I hope that in 2027, I can make it to Django on the Med - and I envy everyone going there this year!! I'll try to make up for this by having a nice time at Django Day Copenhagen.

I'm curious, where your nickname "Benjaoming" comes from?

I picked a nickname as a teenager and used it so many times that it became impossible to get rid of. But let's be honest: Out of some random teenage thought, I wanted my first name "Benjamin" to sound Chinese. The first variation was "Ben Jao Ming", but eventually it just became "benjaoming". I had a childhood friend with a Chinese name who changed his name to an English name. I think possibly hundreds of millions of people have changed their names to some Anglo version, so if I have to make an excuse about why this is somehow cool over 20 years later, that'll have to be it!

How did you start using Django?

In 2008, I had learned Python by building a distributed file system in FUSE (if you don't know it, don't worry.. but let's just say FUSE and Wobbly Windows were an insane period in the Linux Desktop era). Back then, I was actually using PHP for everything involving websites, but almost instantly, I was happy with Python and became involved in founding an organization to advance computer reuse and refurbishment - which of course needed a website - back then, Django was the one-stop shop for building websites with Python. And it still is 🥳

Can I be excused with a quick interjection? This history of Django was something I was trying to figure out when Django turned 20 years (last year). There is an un-published timeline here that I think we can leak, and it contains instructions to get in touch about finishing it.

The organization I was building with my first Django projects, FAIR Allocation of Infotech Resources, turned out to be a 10+ year engagement where me and others built a platform for reusing computers. This spanned everything from embedded systems that scanned and wiped the subject of reuse, to Gnome desktop applications and an online warehouse. We reused tens of thousands of computers in Denmark and Norway. We couldn't have done all this without Django - people would ask for a feature for the operation, and we'd just turn it into reality immediately. I don't even think we had an issue tracker for the initial years. To begin with, it was just emails/meetings/workshop fire-fighting, commits and manual deploys.

Can I be excused with a SECOND quick interjection? There's a lot to learn from the simplicity of the past. People may think that a proper operation requires CI/CD, full test coverage, AI integration, project management etc. But if we want to know what "rapid development" means in 2026, we shouldn't accept all the current standards.

At some point during this venture, I needed a wiki in Python, which was called django-simplewiki in 2009. MIT sponsored some development work because they were using it for edX, and it became a popular project called django-wiki.

At this early stage, I didn't know so much about the Django community, but when I met another Django developer in Copenhagen (valberg), we ended up going to Poland for DjangoCon Europe 2013 in Warsaw. Because there's such a long history of DjangoCon Europe, I've added a whole table to the Wikipedia article. The table is in the general Django article, but because it's so long, I think we might need a new separate Wikipedia article about DjangoCon ✌️

I've done a lot of professional work with valberg, and today we're running an association called data.coop for people in Denmark to break free from Big Tech. Together with valberg and emilkjer, we've been been running Django Denmark since 2018, and that's been quite a journey!

What other framework do you know and if there is anything you would like to have in Django if you had magical powers?

I did some evaluation of FastAPI and SQLAlchemy - and also django-ninja! I think it's interesting how SQLAlchemy approached typing and async, especially how beautifully they curated the transition from SQLAlchemy 1.0 to 2.0 (typed). When people object that Django's ORM doesn't utilize types, I would say: Try using SQLAlchemy, Alembic and FastAPI yourself, maybe try putting all the bits and pieces together for a full project. You might end up concluding - as I did - that for many many cases, having Django's ORM, migrations and other batteries included is just a simpler, cleaner, more maintainable solution. And there's django-ninja which gets you very close to the FastAPI experience, while staying in the Django world.

I really liked building APIs with FastAPI and dependency injection. I think it's a promising idea to combine FastAPI and Django, so in no way do the two frameworks need to contradict one-another.

On that same note: I've tried a 2 times to combine Hugo and Django, and they both went well: So you build all the frontend with Hugo, and it outputs the templates and static files that Django renders. An example is from the 2019 DjangoCon Europe's website. That way, you can have a static website AND a dynamic website in the same project/repository etc.

What projects are you working on now?

I've been migrating django-money from GitHub to Codeberg. That means the project is now on a platform that protects FLOSS from LLMs and is owned by an Open Source community rather than Silicon Valley/Big Tech. Together with my co-maintainer, Dmitry Dygalo, we acknowledge that we have taken on some extra work and costs to operate our own independent CI for testing. I look forward to seeing what a self-hosted CI can do, for instance we can customize our own base images moving forward to have something that's fully tailored for Python projects and don't need to install other actions to do the work.

Which Django libraries are your favorite (core or 3rd party)?

Here's a list of things on my mind these days:

  • django-admin-action-forms is a project I think is so good (💌 Michał Pokusa!), it needs to be adopted somehow for the Django Admin itself. It proposes a very simple way to configure forms for Django Admin actions... and I need that all the time!
  • django-markdownfield makes its way into many projects I work on as a very easy way to enhance an otherwise boring TextField.
  • django-migrations-ci is an application that can possibly help speed up the CI and save CPU and energy resources on many larger projects. Of course, the simple answer could be to manage and squash migrations - but the enterprise reality might be different.
  • django-money is a project I was handed commit rights to and it's been following me around in most Django projects up until now. It's just really good to make sure you get money values correct in e-commerce.
  • Wagtail is a flagship Django project that doesn't need further introduction. But some of the key points of this project is that the organization and worker-owned cooperative Torchbox keeps lending resources to help Django itself advance.

What are the top three things in Django that you like?

  1. Reliability of the admin : I've been almost entire engaged professionally with the Django Admin for the past 2 years, in the sense that building administrative interfaces has been a prime my clients. The primary win of the Django admin is that custom-built functionality rarely breaks - so if we're a company and we pay someone to build something in the Django Admin, we still have it many years after, most often passing cleanly through upgrades.

  2. Matureness of the ORM : I can do what I need with the ORM. Many advanced needs are covered, and debugging queries is easy and efficient with tools like django-debug-toolbar.

  3. Matureness of the community : My favorite example is that we still do not have typing. Why not? You will need to dive into on of Carlton Gibson's talk Static Islands, Dynamic Sea. But basically, we are taking advantage of both worlds and not suddenly band-waggoning around a new trend. Discussions are allowed to take time. I also really like the new features where we've found a similar path of patience between the issue tracker and Django Enhancement Proposals (DEPs).

You are one of the board members of "Django Danmark" and organizer of Django Day Copenhagen since multiple years, that's great! How did everything started?

Actually, we were a lot of people from Copenhagen that met at a couple DjangoCon Europe conferences outside of Copenhagen! So let's not underestimate the impact of this, we may have known one another from professional settings and studies, but at the end of all that, we were inspired at the DjangoCon Europe events to go home and do more...

So up until 2018, we had lots of small, informal gatherings as meetups. For a few years, often 50 people would show up. Companies hosted, paid for the pizza etc. People put in efforts to prepare talks. That way, a community formed and friendships were made.

However, we were seeing a dip in normal meetups back in 2017 and wanted to have more momentum for the events, so we opted for a single-day, annual conference with tickets. We needed to incorporate an association for this to happen, but it happened with Django Day Copenhagen 2018. And then a year later, we hosted DjangoCon Europe 2019 in Copenhagen which boosted the economy of the association dramatically.

We've always volunteered and never taken out any payment for anyone involved. That way, we've kept the profits to give back to community activities and supported other communities around the world.

I was never alone in this, but thanks to Víðir Valberg Guðmundsson (valberg) and Emil Kjer, we've been able to sustain the setup for many years through Django Denmark.

You have organize different type of events, including bigger one like DjangoCon Europe. What are the things to consider to start an event and keep it sustainable according to you?

This is gonna be an even longer rant then! I'll try to vary it, but otherwise my pet peeve is Code globally, meet locally.

So firstly, start small, meet some people, get a network. Use whatever you have to start the first meetups. Don't get overwhelmed, but instead focus on meeting other people that you enjoy being with.

We've always looked for other local non-profits and municipal venues to do what we want. We explore our networks. We don't have any principal issues around working with commercial partners, but once we reached the state of paying for venues and food, then in order to keep things affordable, we like to work with like-minded organizations and people, so we've often had to skip the commercial venues.

This also echoed a larger mission: It's very helpful when a company lets their employees do community work in work hours, and it's certainly the right thing to do. Because companies benefit from open source communities, and when they contribute back in the open, it gives them other benefits, too! But if we were to establish a budget around a fully commercial event activity (it's more expensive!), we would lose a lot of aspects of actually having a community. So even though it's not strictly speaking a problem to pay a profit-making entity to do things, we would have had a dramatically different pricing of events, making them either impossible or exclusive in way that the full community could no longer be included. You might have a different situation.

Sponsors are almost impossible to get around no matter what: We've varied it a bit. From working with "sponsors" and having dedicated a process to try and sell sponsorships, we changed to just "corporate supporter" tickets, which is a ticket for companies that give them benefits included in a standard corporate ticket.

Events don't have to be at commercial conference venues: The most important part is that people are together and someone prepares something for the event - talks, food, drinks etc. If you want to just do something social, then announce a park or a bar where people can meet! If you want talks, then maybe you just need a library - we did that several times! Or even better, you're a university student and can use the university!!

For DjangoCon Europe 2019, we ended up with an amazing circus and theater production school. And actually most cities have very similar options. So if you see Django as something cultural, you will likely find inspiring cultural options for both the venue, the food, and the content.

Yes, absolutely! We're a new working group that grew out of a previous working group established to support new organizers of DjangoCon Europe. The idea was that experienced organizers could help new organizers. There's a special situation for the DSF where DjangoCon Europe doesn't actually have its own organization, but everytime a new episode happens, someone local/new is fully responsible for all the finances etc. That's a lot of work. As a consequence of that, the Portuguese team from Evolutio has also been hosting a lot of events.

We decided to have a working group to support EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE doing Django-related events. So if you have an event brewing and you have questions, you can always write to events-support@djangoproject.com.

We would like more organizers to join the working group.

I know you have a deep interest in data privacy, what are the recommendations you would give to someone who would like to do their best in their Django applications?

I don't think we're close enough to have a privacy-by-design setup in Django. We could do much more for model/ORM design to have support for anonymization, right-to-be-forgotten, consent etc.

I've been working a lot with consent, and one of the things that I learned was that the agreement made with a user when they consent to something needs to be manageable both the user - and the data controller, too.. but I hear "consent management" all to often ONLY refer to the data controller's ability to manage. The real change would be to design for the user's ability to manage their consent.

But we can't go around and re-invent bespoke solutions for this every time. We need a simple solution. And again, like I pitched in the beginning with Risky and Rapid Design Spaces - here's another option for the developer to gain enough context to produce relevant solutions out of their own thinking and intutition. From my experience, many developers LOVE privacy, so having a developer-oriented implementation of consent-based data management could add a great ally of the legal department to guard the user's interests. Developers are writing the data models and processing, so they're very like likely to be the first ones to go "oh! that needs the user's consent!"

You are the chair of the DSF Social Media Working Group, one of the people behind the Official Django account, that's really nice! How does it look like?

We're around 8-9 active members in the group, but everyone is very low-key active, meaning that there's always someone posting stuff! It works very well in the sense that no one has taken on a lot of work. And it leaves some room for improvement, too, since the DSF has a lot of accounts with a lot of followers and a lot of stuff to post about!

We have a flow similar to working with code on GitHub: Someone suggests a post, and someone else reviews/approves it. We might do a very simple post to get something out quickly, and other times we talk about the content and plan something for a longer time, for instance Feature Fridays.

At the moment, we are mixing two kinds of flows: first, sometimes we notice news and post it on our own initiative, and second, sometimes we are asked if we can help another working group or the DSF board to post. We have a kind of inbox for that.

But I would say we are always happy to receive tips of something that would make for a great post. We have a form if you have suggestions and our DMs are open!

After so many times in the Django community, what makes you stay?

I think Django was always the ray of hope and inspiration for me to build software: The world never needed more software nor web frameworks, so I always loved that Django had a respectful and inclusive community where we were able to talk about other values than just "l'art pour l'art". We don't necessarily need more software, and we don't necessarily just need better software, in that framing everything remains a technical question - we need purpose. And to be in a diverse community that is able to talk about making itself more inclusive, opening the job market and opportunity space for the whole world, and understanding and addressing privileges and disadvantages is key for our community to maintain its purpose.

How do you envision the future of Django from your perspective?

Simple answer: Our community attracts smart people that collaborate well, and thus we'll keep having a smart framework.

Is there anything else you’d like to say?

I love that we use the green heart emoji in Django settings 💚


Thank you for doing the interview, Benjamin !

From The Rest Is History at 2026-08-31 00:05:00

701. Roman Civil War: Rise of the General (Part 1) (GLT1262857909.mp3)

Who was Gaius Marius, one of the two men who would shape the fate of Rome in the first century BC? Why was his road to fame, fortune, and political greatness, from total obscurity, so dangerous? And, would Marius be the man to face down the existential threat facing the empire during this period?  Join Tom and Dominic as they launch into one of the greatest struggles in the history of Rome, as two titanic generals and politicians clash over hegemony of the empire, in an age of tumult.  *The Rest Is History LIVE: The Ultimate Victorian Adventure* The maddest expedition in history and it’s NEVER been heard before on the show: join Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook LIVE at the Southbank as they tell the bonkers story of Queen Victoria ordering one of history’s most daring assignments ever. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Tickets available for Friday 4th September⁠⁠⁠⁠, the Saturday show is SOLD OUT. _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editors: Jack Meek, Harry Swan + Adam Thornton  Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Tabby Syrett & Aaliyah Akude  Senior Producer: Callum Hill   Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-08-30 12:03:47

Inside Meta’s push to put robots to work in data centers

The company is testing robots on tasks that can performed by technicians.

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-08-30 08:00:00

Simon Sebag-Montefiore on the Iran war: Trump’s mistakes, Israel’s overreach and the end of the ‘Middle East’ (media.mp3)

"Israel is in a situation of kind of spectacular military virtuosity, but also strategic impoverishment. You cannot kill everybody." 


On today’s bank holiday bonus episode of Iran: the Latest, Venetia Rainey speaks to historian Simon Sebag-Montefiore to get a historian’s view of the US-Israel-Iran war. Simon argues that Donald Trump’s biggest mistake was not stopping after 2025’s Operation Midnight Hammer, and that Benjamin Netanyahu is leading his country into a potential intra-Jewish civil war. 

Plus, why the Iranian regime is a Mahdist-praetorian oligarchy, how the geopolitical concept of "the Middle East" became obsolete, and which dictators from the region’s modern history haunt him. 

Simon Sebag Montefiore’s new book, The Cauldron: The Making of the Modern Middle East, is out now.

Highlights

  • Trump’s mistakes, Israel’s overreach and the end of the ‘Middle East’
  • Historian and author Simon Sebag-Montefiore on the Iran war


CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey

Simon Sebag-Montefiore, historian and author @simonmontefiore


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


CONTENT REFERENCED:

Simon Sebag Montefiore: Appeasing radical activists will make the West ungovernable

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/books/authors/simon-sebag-montefiore-the-cauldron-interview/


Simon Sebag Montefiore: Starmer’s foreign policy risks rewarding aggressive extremists

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/09/07/montefiore-starmers-foreign-policy-rewards-extremists/


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: Joleen Goffin

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From More or Less at 2026-08-29 06:00:00

Do Germans really take 19.5 days of sick leave per year? (p0p3105x.mp3)

How do different countries compare, in terms of the amount of time that workers take as sick leave?

Loyal listener Dave got in touch to ask us to look at a surprising statistic he saw in the news – that the average German takes 19.5 days of sick leave per year.

“This is extremely hard to believe,” he wrote.

We track down the – highly reliable – source of the claim, and look at the differences between countries when it comes to taking time of work with illness.

To guide us through it all is Lukas Lehner - assistant professor at the University of Edinburgh.

If you’ve seen a number in the news that you think we should take a look at, get in touch: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Lizzy McNeill Producer: Krista Beighton Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon

From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2026-08-29 03:02:13

Collections: Global Trade and United States Navy

This week we’re doing another one of our series of military theory primers, this time focusing on a fairly simple contention: that the United States Navy is a load-bearing component of the global economy. I considered attempting to work in A.T. Mahan and the concept of command of the seas in here but simply outlining … Continue reading Collections: Global Trade and United States Navy

From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-28 22:02:44

Friday Squid Blogging: Truckload of Squid Spills in Rhode Island

Ugh:

A tractor-trailer rollover sent a truckload of squid spilling into a Rhode Island roadway, leaving a stench as they sat in the road for hours in the summer heat. Local authorities have dubbed it the “Squidpocalypse of ’26.”

That would be twenty tons of squid.

As usual, you can also use this squid post to talk about the security stories in the news that I haven’t covered.

Blog moderation policy.

From Odd Lots at 2026-08-28 18:23:16

Austan Goolsbee Is Worried the Economy Is Overheating (audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=982f5071-765c-403d-969d-ae27003a8d83)

Inflation remains high and the 2% target is farther away than it was this time last year. There are signs all over that the economy is overheating — the strange labor market where hiring and firing remains low, while GDP is growing, but mostly due to AI and the data center buildout — and Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee is worried about how uncertain central bankers are about what to do to cool the economy. The next shock, he tells us, could be around the corner. In this conversation, recorded at the Jackson Hole Economic Symposium, Goolsbee explains why he is skeptical of metrics like r*, why he is embracing Kevin Warsh's philosophy around reducing forward guidance, the purpose of the new Fed task forces, and the economic indicators that influence his thinking around reaction function.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-08-28 17:04:35

Hegseth in the firing line after 6 months of war (media.mp3)

Six months into the Iran conflict, the war has devolved into an economic ‘quagmire’ as the US shifts strategy from kinetic strikes to prolonged blockade tactics under "Operation Economic Outcast". 


On today’s episode of Iran: The Latest, Henry Bodkin speaks with Chief Washington Correspondent Connor Stringer to discuss why Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could be in the firing line for a post-midterm cabinet purge as Trump desperately seeks a scapegoat for his low approval ratings and Iran war stalemate. They analyse how outgoing Mossad chief Dedi Barnea is pushing for total regime collapse in Tehran, and why Benjamin Netanyahu is openly defying Trump on Gaza peace terms.


Plus, they dissect CIA Director John Ratcliffe’s flight to Moscow, Mark Carney’s trade counter-attacks and the growing friction over prospective British sanctions in the West Bank.


CONTRIBUTORS:

Henry Bodkin, Jerusalem correspondent @HenryBodkin

Connor Stringer, chief Washington correspondent @connorstringer


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: David Dargahi 

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From The Incomparable Mothership at 2026-08-28 17:00:00

832: Likeable Goblins (628a2d7a-2836-46c6-97e2-3d7e336f9c48.mp3)

Eleven books later, our Awards Book Club has finally reached the end of the line. In this episode we cover our last uncovered book, “Shroud” by Adrian Tchaikovsky, recommend some Hugo-nominated short fiction, and rank all eleven books. Plus: What are we reading other than shortlisted novels?! See you next year....

From The Django weblog at 2026-08-28 15:55:00

Django Developers Survey 2026 results

The results from the 2026 Django Developers Survey are now available. This is the fifth annual report conducted from May to July 2026 by the Django Software Foundation in collaboration with JetBrains PyCharm.

The full report includes infographics, quotes, and dedicated sections so you can easily navigate the results. There is also a The State of Django 2026: Boring is so back blog post highlighting key Django trends in 2026 and actionable ideas for your own Django development.

The Django Chat podcast also covers the survey in a special summer episode, from Django 6.1 and HTMX to async, AI, deployment, testing, and Python tooling.

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-08-28 12:15:05

Authorities arrest 2 alleged members of prolific hacking group TeamPCP

The group infected more than 1,000 organizations in a relentless supply-chain attack campaign.

From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-28 12:02:22

AI Doesn’t Mean the End of Mathematics—at Least Not Yet

This essay was written with Kasra Rafi, and originally appeared in The Guardian.

Earlier this month, about 40 top mathematicians gathered at OpenAI’s offices to discuss the future of their profession. The meeting was off-the-record, but if recent articles by mathematicians are any guide, it was mostly pretty glum. People fear for their jobs, their careers and the work they love.

We think the contrary view is more likely, at least in the short-term. AI models are nowhere near as capable as experienced academic mathematicians.

This isn’t to say that AIs aren’t producing stunning mathematical results at the level of PhD researchers. In mid-May, OpenAI ...

From School of War at 2026-08-28 10:00:00

Our Foreign Policy Divide Began with the Korean War (CBS7129264196.mp3)

More than 75 years after the Korean War, its lessons endure—and divisions over isolationism and American power continue to shape the discourse around modern global conflicts. Dane J. Cash, historian and author of The Forgotten Debate: The Korean War and the Roots of America's Ideological Divisions, joins School of War to explain how the left’s hawk-dove divide during the Korean War foreshadowed the neoconservative break from the liberal consensus during the 1970s and why the political battles of the early Cold War continue to splinter America today. 2:10 America Before the Korean War 3:08 The Debate Over Containment 4:15 Multilateralism vs. Unilateralism 5:29 Did Acheson Invite the War? 8:23 Why North Korea Attacked 8:55 Conservative Criticism of Truman 11:10 Liberal Divisions Over Korea 13:30 The Roots of Neoconservatism 17:14 Truman’s Lonely Middle Ground 19:51 The Right’s Foreign Policy Split 22:05 Taft, Eisenhower, and the GOP 22:58 MacArthur’s Moment 25:31 China Enters the War 30:37 Herbert Hoover’s Foreign Policy Revolt 33:51 Stalemate, POWs, and Ukraine Parallels This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-08-27 17:52:43

‘We’re going to see a reckoning’ of the global order: Middle East scholar’s verdict (media.mp3)

On today’s episode of Iran: The Latest, Sophia Yan is joined by Middle East scholar Vali Nasr to assess the state of the conflict as it hits the six-month mark. They discuss why Washington’s security umbrella in the Gulf is collapsing, how US naval exhaustion is forcing warships to retreat to Asia, and why China stands to emerge as the ultimate winner of the war.

Plus, why Israel and Turkey could be heading toward a new frontline in Syria, and what will come of the diplomatic flurry occurring between Gulf countries, as the Qatari Prime Minister makes his way to Tehran for further talks? 


Highlights

  • Diplomatic Flurry: What will come of recent Iran, Oman, and Qatar negotiations? 
  • Great-Power Shift: How China wins from US exhaustion


CONTRIBUTORS:

Sophia Yan, senior foreign correspondent, @sophia_yan

Vali Nasr, scholar in Middle Eastern studies, Professor at Johns Hopkins-SAIS @vali_nasr


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


CONTENT REFERENCED:


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: David Dargahi 

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From The Briefing Room at 2026-08-27 16:05:00

Are Gen Z movements reshaping politics? (p0p6lmnx.mp3)

In May, the Chief Justice of India unwittingly gave a name to a generational protest. He called unemployed young people “cockroaches” and the mass youth movement that had begun in the wake of the sudden cancellation of a national exam took on the title - the Cockroach Janta party.

But India hasn’t been the only country that has seen Gen Z - people aged between 14 and 29 - engaging in mass protests this year. It’s been happening all over the place, from Serbia to Kenya. Different grievances, different circumstances, but the same generation.

So what are the youth revolting about, and are they winning?

Step inside The Briefing Room and together we’ll find out.

Guests:

Dr Nayana Prakash, research affiliate at the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy at the University of Cambridge. Erica Frantz, associate professor in political science at Michigan State University Matthew Cebul, lead research fellow at the Nonviolent Action Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School

Production team:

Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Ben Carter, Emma Close and Kirsteen Knight Editor: Penny Murphy Sound engineer: James Beard Production co-ordinator: Keshia Agyei

From Release notes from govuk-frontend at 2026-08-27 15:24:42

v6.5.0

<p>To install this version with npm, run <code>npm install govuk-frontend@6.5.0</code>. You can also find more information about <a href="https://frontend.design-system.service.gov.uk/staying-up-to-date/#updating-to-the-latest-version" rel="nofollow">how to stay up to date</a> in our documentation.</p> <h2>New features</h2> <h3>We’ve introduced the ‘Trial’ status tag for new components or variants of components</h3> <p>We’ve introduced the ‘Trial’ status tag for new components or variants of components that might not meet all our <a href="https://design-system.service.gov.uk/community/contribution-criteria/" rel="nofollow">contribution criteria</a>. We release trial components to:</p> <ul> <li>get feedback from the community</li> <li>allow services to trial the components with users</li> </ul> <p>See the guidance on <a href="https://design-system.service.gov.uk/community/component-lifecycle-statuses/" rel="nofollow">Component lifecycles</a> for more information on trial components.</p> <h3>Use the Language navigation component to let users switch between languages</h3> <p>We've added the <a href="https://design-system.service.gov.uk/components/language-navigation/" rel="nofollow">Language navigation component</a> to let users switch between languages your service offers.</p> <p>This component is currently in trial status.</p> <p>We made this change in <a href="https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-frontend/pull/7226">pull request #7226: Add Language navigation component</a>.</p> <p>Thanks to <a class="user-mention notranslate" href="https://github.com/danacotoran">@danacotoran</a> for suggesting this component.</p> <h3>Use the Feedback component to collect feedback from users of your service</h3> <p>We've added the <a href="https://design-system.service.gov.uk/components/feedback/" rel="nofollow">Feedback component</a> to help services collect feedback from their users throughout their service.</p> <p>This component is currently in trial status.</p> <p>We made this change in <a href="https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-frontend/pull/7232">pull request #7232: Add Feedback component</a>.</p> <h3>Align content of Service navigation's <code>end</code> slot with navigation items</h3> <p>When enough space is available on a user’s screen, you can display content in the <code>end</code> slot in line with the navigation items to the right rather than underneath the navigation items.</p> <p>This can be useful when inserting content users expect in that area, such as:</p> <ul> <li>language navigation</li> <li>authentication and account links</li> </ul> <p>If you use Nunjucks, the <code>end</code> slot now accepts an object with the HTML to insert an <code>align</code> option:</p> <div class="highlight highlight-text-html-nunjucks notranslate position-relative overflow-auto"><pre><span class="pl-e">{{</span> <span class="pl-smi">govukServiceNavigation</span>({ <span class="pl-k">/*</span> <span class="pl-smi">Other</span> <span class="pl-smi">component</span> <span class="pl-smi">options</span> <span class="pl-k">*/</span> <span class="pl-smi">slots</span>: { <span class="pl-smi">end</span>: { <span class="pl-smi">html</span>: <span class="pl-k">/*</span> <span class="pl-smi">Content</span> <span class="pl-smi">of</span> <span class="pl-smi">the</span> <span class="pl-smi">slot</span> <span class="pl-k">*/</span>, <span class="pl-smi">align</span>: <span class="pl-s"><span class="pl-pds">'</span>inline<span class="pl-pds">'</span></span> } } }) <span class="pl-e">}}</span></pre></div> <p>If you do not use Nunjucks to generate your components' HTML, add the <code>govuk-service-navigation__inlining-container</code> class to the <code>&lt;div class="govuk-width-container"&gt;</code> inside your Service navigation.</p> <p>We made this change in <a href="https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-frontend/pull/7349">pull request #7349: Update how Service Navigation aligns the end slot</a>.</p> <h2>Recommended changes</h2> <h3>Update references to deprecated organisation colours</h3> <p>Following the July 2026 machinery of government changes, we've made the following updates to Frontend's <a href="https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-frontend/blob/main/packages/govuk-frontend/src/govuk/settings/_colours-organisations.scss">list of organisation colours</a>:</p> <ul> <li><code>department-for-science-innovation-technology</code> has been deprecated</li> <li><code>department-for-business-trade</code> has been deprecated - use <code>department-for-business-innovation-science-trade</code> instead</li> <li><code>department-for-culture-media-sport</code> has been deprecated – use <code>department-for-digital-culture-media-sport</code> instead</li> </ul> <p>We’ll remove deprecated organisation names in a future major release of GOV.UK Frontend.</p> <p>We made this change in the following pull requests:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-frontend/pull/7306">#7306: Update organisation colours following July 2026 MoG changes</a></li> <li><a href="https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-frontend/pull/7354">#7354: Update organisation colour for BIST</a> - thanks to <a class="user-mention notranslate" href="https://github.com/armstrongb">@armstrongb</a> for reporting this issue</li> </ul> <h2>Fixes</h2> <p>We've made fixes to GOV.UK Frontend in the following pull requests:</p> <ul> <li><a href="https://github.com/alphagov/govuk-frontend/pull/7364">#7364: Print style updates for various components</a></li> </ul>

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-08-27 15:00:13

Claude, Codex, and Hermes installed unowned code inside corporate networks

227 install commands were found in corporate docs pointing at code nobody owns.

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-08-27 13:58:59

How OpenAI let a mob of LLM agents game a test and ransack Hugging Face

Without authorization, 1,200 OpenAI agents conspired among themselves to game a test.

From Odd Lots at 2026-08-27 12:30:00

Kansas City Fed President Jeffrey Schmid on the First Jackson Hole of the Warsh Era (audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=982f5071-765c-403d-969d-ae27003a8d83)

We are back in Jackson Hole! And this year's Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City symposium on monetary policy might be one of the most interesting editions in years. It marks the first under new Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh, and Fed observers all over the world will be closely watching his Friday speech for signs of how he might further distinguish himself, and the institution he is in charge of, from the Jerome Powell era. This meeting at Jackson Hole also comes at a fascinating, and pretty tense, time for monetary policy in the US and abroad: high bond yields, above-target inflation, and AI's still unrealized effect on broader parts of the economy like the job market. As we have in the past, we speak with Jeffrey Schmid, the president and CEO of the Kansas City Fed, about what to expect and he also shares his thoughts on the wave of baby boomer retirements and how it's affecting the labor force, his recent FOMC votes, and he explains why this symposium is so focused on payments.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

From Net Assessment at 2026-08-27 12:00:00

Science: A New Golden Age? (Net_Assessment_-_27_August_2026_v1.mp3?dest-id=808287)

The team sits down to talk about the new OSTP report, Science: A New Golden Age. What role should the government have in the scientific enterprise? What should national scientific goals be? It is time to integrate new funding models into research and development, or does that unacceptably increase the risk for politicization of science? Does the report's emphasis on breakthroughs that benefit the public more quickly ignore the importance of foundational research?

 

Coming up on the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Chris gives an atta to Joe Biden for making the hard decision to withdraw American troops from Afghanistan 5 years ago. Zack has a shoutout for Moderna and Merck for continued work on mRNA cancer vaccines, and Melanie congratulates British Prime Minister Andy Burnham for going to Kyiv and giving Ukraine classified data so it can produce Scalp long-range missiles.

 

Show Links:

 

From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-27 10:56:56

LLM-Based Social Engineering Scams

OpenAI disrupted a social engineering group from Cambodia that used ChatGPT. Its scope is impressive:

The network simultaneously conducted multiple types of scams, often blending elements from different schemes. For instance, operators used dating personas to build trust before introducing fraudulent investment opportunities involving cryptocurrencies and spot gold trading. Other users engaged in lengthy romantic conversations with targets using fictitious identities, posed as representatives of online gambling platforms offering fake bonuses and winnings, or impersonated law enforcement agencies to tell targets they needed to pay fines for committing serious criminal offenses...

From Natalie Haynes Stands Up for the Classics at 2026-08-27 09:00:00

The Argonautica (p0p501xy.mp3)

Natalie narrates Jason and the Argonauts' epic quest to find the Golden Fleece. Killer women, bronze giants, talking crows and a skeleton army all feature in the great poem by Apollonius. No wonder the equally epic 1963 film of the story credited him as a screen writer.

'Rockstar mythologist' Natalie Haynes is the best-selling author of Divine Might, Stone Blind, A Thousand Ships and No Friend to This House as well as a reformed comedian who is a little bit obsessive about ancient Greece and Rome.

Producer Beth O'Dea

From The Rest Is History at 2026-08-27 00:05:00

700. The Troubles: Bloody Sunday (Part 4) (GLT3909829334.mp3)

How did Bloody Sunday erupt on the 30th of January 1972? Why did it follow on the heels of terrible violence? And, what were the consequences of that violent day?  Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss the tragic events of Bloody Sunday, and the final attempt at peace in Northern Ireland.  *The Rest Is History LIVE: The Ultimate Victorian Adventure* The maddest expedition in history and it’s NEVER been heard before on the show: join Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook LIVE at the Southbank as they tell the bonkers story of Queen Victoria ordering one of history’s most daring assignments ever. ⁠⁠⁠Tickets available for Friday 4th September⁠⁠⁠, the Saturday show is SOLD OUT. _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editors: Jack Meek, Harry Swan + Adam Thornton  Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Tabby Syrett & Aaliyah Akude  Senior Producer: Callum Hill   Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-08-26 22:25:27

AI agents meant to replace Meta workers made “large-scale, disruptive actions”

Report shows Meta's challenges replacing people with AI agents.

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-08-26 17:23:24

CIA Chief's secret Moscow flight - Has the US tried to bargain with Putin over Iran? (media.mp3)

As the US-Iran war approaches the six-month mark, CIA Director John Ratcliffe makes a secret eight-hour flight to Moscow to meet with Russian officials. 


On today’s episode of Iran: The Latest, Roland Oliphant and senior foreign correspondent Adrian Blomfield analyze whether Donald Trump offering Vladimir Putin a trade-off on Ukraine to sever Moscow’s backing of Tehran, or issuing a direct intelligence warning against Russian regional escalation. Meanwhile, China has hit back against Scott Bessent’s ‘Operation Economic Outcast’ sanctions, calling them “illegal” and pledging to protect commerce. 


Plus, Tehran has issued a $10M assassination bounty targeting Donald Trump's son Barron, while questions mount over whether Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is dead or incapacitated while the regime rules via a "phantom" leadership. 

Highlights

  • 6 months of war: Has Trump settled into a long-game strategy?
  • Phantom Leader: Is Mojtaba Khamenei Dead or Incapacitated?


CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant

Adrian Blomfield, senior foreign correspondent @adrianblomfield 


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: David Dargahi 

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/




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From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-26 13:05:52

Spyware for Babies

The New York Times has a long article (alt link) on surveillance systems aimed at babies. They are increasingly using AI.

Nanit and its rivals want to own 24/7 health tracking for the sub-four-foot set. And their already astonishing levels of baby data collection are just the beginning. Nanit recently raised $50 million from investors to expand its use of A.I. and use its camera to track speech and language development, motor skills and more, while extending its presence in children’s bedrooms into early adolescence.

From Ancient History 101 at 2026-08-26 05:00:00

Aeschylus' Agamemnon (media.mp3)

OK, forget Odysseus for a minute, because there was another Greek who found coming home from Troy to be a bit of a nightmare too... Shelby Judge drops into the pod to walk us through a play by Aeschylus that tells us exactly what happened when Agamemnon came home to his wife...

Find links to recommended translations, performance recordings and a transcript on the episode webpage

Make sure to click ‘subscribe’ so that you never miss an episode; we have a new topic every Wednesday!

Find Ancient History 101 on social media and our website, where you can learn more about our expert guests.

We have merch available at our RedBubble shop, or you can help support the podcast by buying history books and translations we’ve hand-chosen for you at our online bookshop in the USA or UK.

Or you can buy us a ko-fi! However you choose to support the show, we appreciate it!

Sick of being interrupted by adverts? We have an ad-free subscription here.

Ancient History 101 is a proud member of the Mnemosyne Memory Collective  



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From The Django weblog at 2026-08-25 20:45:00

PyCharm & Django Fall Fundraiser

We are back with our friends at JetBrains for the second of the two "Buy PyCharm, Support Django" fundraisers we run together each year. Our spring campaign was the first. It remains one of the most impactful ways the community can support the Django Software Foundation.

Your support of this campaign helps fund key initiatives such as:

  • A Django Executive Director: Funding our first Executive Director, who will lead fundraising, operations, and community coordination for the Foundation.
  • Django Fellows: Ensuring the rapid development and maintenance of Django.
  • Django Girls: Making the Django community accessible to programming beginners around the world.
  • International events and conferences: Supporting DjangoCons, one-day events, meetups, and other community gatherings around the world.
  • Djangonaut Space: Onboarding new contributors to the Django project.

The Executive Director role is new, which is why this campaign matters more than usual. The DSF raises around $300,000 a year today. Reaching $500,000 is what makes a full-time Executive Director sustainable, and campaigns like this one are how we close that gap. If leading that work sounds like you, applications are open until September 14, 2026.

How the campaign works

The campaign runs until September 7, 2026. When you buy a new PyCharm license or renew an existing one at a 30% discount through our special campaign link, JetBrains will donate an equal amount to the Django Software Foundation. You get a professional IDE that is trusted by Django developers worldwide, and the DSF receives a matched contribution.

Get 30% off PyCharm, Support Django

Thank you, JetBrains

Beyond this campaign, JetBrains contributes to the Django ecosystem in ways that are easy to overlook but hard to overstate. The 2026 Django Developers Survey was published earlier this summer, and along with the Python Developers Survey, it gives the entire community a clearer picture of where Django and Python are heading each year.

"JetBrains is one of our most generous fundraising partners year after year, helping us sustain and grow the Django ecosystem. We deeply appreciate their commitment, leadership, and collaboration."

Jeff Triplett, President, Django Software Foundation

Thank you to JetBrains for another year of partnership, and thank you to everyone who participates in this campaign. Together, we can ensure the continued success and growth of the framework we all rely on.

Other ways to donate

If you would like to donate in another way, especially if you are already a PyCharm customer, here are other ways to donate to the DSF:

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-08-25 16:11:24

US vows "Economic Warfare" as the UK prepares for infrastructure blackouts (media.mp3)

Iran shut down a British power plant for four days in an unprecedented cyber attack, in what can be described as the most serious incident of its kind. 


On today’s episode of Iran: The Latest, Roland Oliphant is joined in the studio by Telegraph National Security Editor Rozina Sabur to unpack her major exclusive on the Iranian cyber attack that disabled a British power plant. They discuss why the government tried to keep the breach quiet, how Iranian proxies are targeting Western infrastructure, and parliament’s preparation to warn the public to prepare for future nationwide blackout scenarios.


Plus, Washington has launched "Operation Economic Outcast," a sweeping financial blockade aiming to choke off Iran’s remaining oil trade and throttle its regime. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced the key measures of the campaign, including secondary sanctions against buyers of Iranian crude.



CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant

Rozina Sabur, national security editor @rozinasabur


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


CONTENT REFERENCED:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/08/22/iranian-hackers-shut-down-uk-power-plant/ 


https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/08/24/us-endgame-iran-trump-scott-bessent-treasury-middle-east/ 


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: David Dargahi 

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-25 11:54:50

Black Hat State of Security Vendors

Andy Ellis has a roundup of the security vendors at Black Hat this year.

Key Takeaways: We have entered into an AI world. While nearly half of booths didn’t directly mention AI or agents in their taglines, the effects of AI are everywhere. Multiple spaces (Identity, SaaS, AppSec, Data) have almost every vendor leading with AI; existing unsolved problem areas just got worse.

At the same time, there’s a clear trichotomy in the market: tools that tell you how bad things are; tools that stop adversaries, and tools that prevent problems from occurring. While you’d suspect that the tools that fix things would dominate, the tools that merely tell you how bad things are seem to be frustratingly plentiful...

From School of War at 2026-08-25 10:00:00

Inside America’s Fight for Drone Dominance (CBS4111906117.mp3)

The U.S. military needs more drones, and it needs to build them without Chinese parts. Today, Defense Innovation Unit Deputy Director Travis Metz joins School of War to discuss how America can build drones quickly, cheaply, and on U.S. soil; what America can learn from Ukraine’s drone war; and the Pentagon’s new billion-dollar effort to upgrade its aging military technology. 2:23 - Why America Is Behind on Drones 4:32 - The Drone Dominance Program 6:51 - Breaking Dependence on China 10:23 - The Different Types of Drones 13:34 - Ukraine’s Mid-Range Strike Revolution 16:00 - Cheap Drones at Long Range 18:47 - AI, Autonomy, and Electronic Warfare 21:47 - How Drone Dominance Works 24:33 - Building an American Drone Industry 33:55 - Lessons From Fort Benning 39:19 - Cheap and Expendable Drones 42:01 - Testing Drones for Different Missions 50:14 - The Next Phase of Drone Dominance 55:09 - How Many Drones Does America Need? 1:02:49 - Recreating Ukraine’s Innovation Cycle This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-08-24 20:19:21

Inaudible sounds used to fingerprint browsers catch AliExpress red-handed

Is the technique outdated? Yes. Is it still creepy? Also yes.

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-08-24 16:30:42

Trump to unleash ‘Economic D Day’ on Iran as blockade bites (media.mp3)

With the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent set to announce the ‘greatest financial offensive ever’ against Iran, Roland sits down with the Telegraph’s chief foreign affairs commentator David Blair to discuss where the Iranian regime goes next and who might blink first.


Meanwhile the Trump administration’s blockade of Iranian ports has seen oil exports dwindle to near zero, with David adding that it may only be a matter of time before the regime goes bankrupt.


The pair also discuss the Iranian cyber attack that shut down a UK power plant for several days and the scheduled meeting between Israel and Syria following a strike on a Syrian airbase last week.


CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant

David Blair, chief foreign affairs commentator @davidblairdt


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


CONTENT REFERENCED:

Iranian hackers shut down UK power plant


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: David Dargahi 

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/




Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Strong Message Here at 2026-08-24 16:16:00

Your Next Listen: The People Have Spoken (p0p62jhl.mp3)

While Armando is still on his summer break, Ian Smith introduces his Friday Night Comedy series, The People Have Spoken.

It's time for the people to speak. In this episode, Fed Up With War!, broadcast on 21 August, Ian Smith is joined by Harriet Kemsley and Ashley Storrie to take on the headlines and work out what is going on, and, together with a live Edinburgh Fringe audience, solve the biggest problems facing the world right now.

Which family member would you send to negotiate with Hamas? How should we help Trump meet his self-imposed deadlines? And how to we protect Andy Burnham from scam phone calls?

If you enjoyed this episode then you can hear more episodes of The People Have Spoken by searching for Friday Night Comedy on BBC Sounds.

Written by Ian Smith, Angela Channell, Cameron Loxdale and Katie Storey Production Coordinator: Asha Osborne-Grinter Sound Editing: David Thomas Executive Producer: James Robinson Recorded the Edinburgh Fesitval Fringe

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios Production

From The Django weblog at 2026-08-24 15:00:00

The Block and Tackle of Django's Code of Conduct Working Group

In early 2026, Django's Code of Conduct Working Group adopted Contributor Covenant 3.0 as Django's Code of Conduct. I talked about why at DjangoCon US 2026 (slides here). That talk was mostly the story of how we managed the people side of the process. This post is the technical mechanics of how we managed the change and our work going forward.

Who can change what, and who has to sign off

The Code of Conduct Working Group is established by the DSF board and kept deliberately small. At least three people, per the working group manual, recruited for diversity of geography, background, and lived experience rather than just availability. Membership is volunteer and term-limited. Terms became annual in February 2026, and if a member doesn't respond to the January renewal check-in within a week, they're rolled off. Nobody has to feel guilty about stepping back.

The board isn't a separate, distant approval layer sitting above the working group. The DSF board's president always holds a seat on the working group and acts as its board liaison. Other board members can volunteer alongside them, and two currently do, in addition to the chair. Day to day, the working group operates independently. It only has to go back to the board for three things: spending money, taking a drastic punitive action, or altering the Code of Conduct text itself.

There's a second working group in the mix too. The Online Community Working Group handles routine moderation of Django's day-to-day spaces. It doesn't touch the Code of Conduct Working Group at all until something gets escalated: a formal report, a violation spanning multiple spaces, or an issue neither group can resolve alone. Each group appoints one of its own members as liaison to the other. If the two groups can't reach consensus on something that needs joint handling, either chair can send it to the board.

Inside the working group itself, decisions are made by consensus first. If that doesn't happen, a two-thirds majority of members without a conflict of interest can decide instead. If neither happens in a reasonable timeframe, it goes to the board.

The process for changing the process

Before anyone touched the Code of Conduct's actual text, the working group created a process for how changes get proposed at all. Issue #69, opened January 13, 2026, asked for exactly that. PR #70 answered it the same day by adding updates.md and a structured issue template for proposals.

The rules are plain. Anyone in the Django community can propose a change by opening an issue against that template. It asks what's changing, why, and whether it touches the CoC text itself or just supporting documentation. The working group can skip the full process for genuinely minor edits, things like typos, membership list updates, or FAQ tweaks. Everything else gets discussed at the working group's regular monthly meeting, with input from the wider community pulled in through the forum, Discord, or DSF Slack when a change is significant enough to warrant it.

Approval splits along the same line as the board relationship above. The working group can merge changes to supporting documentation on its own consensus. A change to CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md itself needs the board's sign-off first. That split isn't just written policy, it's enforced mechanically by a two-line CODEOWNERS file:

* @django/coc-committee
CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md @django/coc-committee @django/dsf-board

Every file in the repo requires the working group's review. CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md additionally requires the board's. GitHub won't merge a PR touching that one file without both. If you're setting up something similar, this is worth copying directly: two lines, and your governance policy becomes something GitHub enforces instead of something people are trusted to remember.

Additionally, we require a 30-day public comment period for all PRs that aren't administrative (fixing typos, updating membership lists, changelog updates, etc.). The working group can merge a PR after 30 days even if nobody comments, but if anyone does, the discussion has to be resolved before merging. This is the mechanism that makes the process public and transparent. It doesn't require anyone to read every comment, but it does require the working group to respond to them. You can use our workflow to enforce that for your project as well. There's two settings BYPASS_LABEL and MIN_AGE_DAYS to tweak the behavior, but the defaults are a 30-day wait and an expedited label that lets the working group skip it for administrative changes.

Once something merges, it gets announced on the blog, forum, social, whatever's appropriate for the size of the change, with a summary, the rationale, and links to what actually changed. updates.md even keeps its own tiny changelog at the bottom, tracking edits to the process document itself, separate from changes to the Code of Conduct. The governance model applies to itself.

Turning a rewrite into a project plan

Two weeks after updates.md landed, issue #74, "Adopt Contributor Covenant 3," opened and immediately spawned fifteen sub-issues (#75 through #89). Each one was a discrete deliverable: rewrite the Enforcement Manual, rewrite the Reporting Guidelines, rewrite the FAQs, rewrite the CoC text itself, sync all of it to djangoproject.com, then announce it, separately, on the Django blog, the forum, Discord, DSF Slack, and Reddit. A rewrite this size doesn't happen as one PR. It happens as a checklist of small, assignable, individually reviewable pieces.

The actual pull requests show how messy that still is in practice. PR #90 opened February 10 and closed the same day, unmerged. A first attempt at the policy rewrite that didn't pan out. PR #91, opened minutes later, was the one that actually worked: +1,475/-790 lines, merged five weeks later on March 16. PR #97 closed the loop on April 15 with a comparatively small +217/-90, formally adopting Contributor Covenant 3. Start to finish, from PR #68 (which first brought these docs into git for change tracking, back on January 10) to PR #97 merging, the whole rewrite took about three months. Most of which was us allowing time for the community to read, comment, and ask questions. The actual work was a few days of writing and reviewing.

The paper trail that replaces "trust us"

The same PR that added updates.md also added a GitHub Action that regenerates CHANGELOG.md automatically on merge. It's not a list of diffs. It's a list of decisions, in plain language, with the reasoning attached. One real entry from the April 15 rewrite:

📝 remove weapons policy since we don't host in-person events directly. this makes more sense as guidance for affiliated events so I'll move it there in the process-docs PR

That's a documented reason for a scope decision, sitting in a public file anyone can read without asking. Multiply that by every entry in the changelog and that's the actual mechanism behind "trust us" becoming "here's the commit history." Not a promise, a habit, enforced by a bot that runs on every merge whether anyone remembers to update the changelog by hand or not.

Our GitHub Action expects a script to be at scripts/update_changelog.sh in the repo. View ours at https://github.com/django/code-of-conduct/blob/main/scripts/update_changelog.sh

What happens after a report comes in

The process above covers how the document changes. Reports of actual violations run through a separate mechanism, described in full in the working group manual and the reporting guide.

Every report lands in one inbox, conduct@djangoproject.com, which fans out to the whole working group. The goal is acknowledgment within a day and an initial response within a week, though the manual is upfront that volunteer coordination sometimes takes longer than that. A decision on next steps needs at least two working group members to agree. Anything severe enough to warrant legal advice needs a majority. Outcomes run up the enforcement ladder: private warning, 30 to 90 day suspension, 90-plus day suspension, permanent ban. Lower rungs get skipped when severity calls for it.

The record-keeping is worth copying too. Every case gets a randomly generated code name, things like "home shelf" or "stunned bulb." Every reported person gets their own persistent code name, like "Person A" or "Blue Jay," so the working group can track repeat patterns across cases without a real name ever touching the primary tracking sheet. A second spreadsheet, access-restricted separately from the first, holds the only mapping from code names back to real identities. Most of the working group can discuss a case, even in public, without either of them knowing who it's actually about.

The code name generator

Those code names come from a small Google Apps Script bound to the tracking spreadsheet, not a service or a library where we're sending sensitive data off to a third party. To install it, open the spreadsheet, go to Extensions > Apps Script, paste the script into Code.gs, and save. Reload the spreadsheet and a "Django CoC" menu shows up next to the built-in ones.

To use it, select the cell where you want a code name and click Django CoC > Generate Code Name. It picks one adjective and one noun at random from two 100-word lists, joins them with a hyphen, and drops the result into the active cell (something like amber-anchor). If the cell already has a value, it asks before overwriting.

Record keeping spreadsheets

The record-keeping actually lives across three separate spreadsheets, each with a different level of access.

The Report Tracker is the working record. One row per case, using code names instead of real identities, with columns for status, resolution source, safety risk, and consequences. The code name generator menu lives on this sheet.

The Person Identity Key is a second, more restricted spreadsheet. It's the only place that maps a code name back to a real name, and it tracks report counts and the highest consequence recorded against that person across cases. Access to it can be limited to a smaller subset of the working group than the Report Tracker itself, so members handling a case can look for patterns without necessarily knowing who they're looking at.

The Public Tracker doesn't touch either of those directly. It pulls a single "Annual Stats" tab out of the Report Tracker with IMPORTRANGE, aggregate counts only (reports, people named, warnings, suspensions, bans, and so on), nothing case-level. That's the sheet behind the statistics Django publishes publicly.

Borrow honestly

None of this was invented from scratch, and the working group says so directly. sources.md traces the lineage: the Ada Initiative's anti-harassment policy, through PyCon 2013, into Contributor Covenant. The 2026 rewrite additionally drew on published enforcement materials from the Python Software Foundation, OpenJS Foundation, and Mozilla, each one cited with the specific license it was borrowed under. Django's own materials are released under CC BY 3.0 for the same reason, so the next community doesn't have to start from a blank page either.

Proof it's still running

The process didn't stop being used the moment PR #97 merged. PR #106 added Djangonaut Space as an affiliated program in May. PR #108 added Django Commons in July. Both went through the same lightweight path described in affiliated-programs.md: adopt a complementary CoC, name a point of contact, publish transparency reports at least annually. This wasn't a one-time project. It's infrastructure now, and it's still picking up new communities.

If you want to fork this

Start with updates.md and the issue template it depends on. That's the whole meta-process in about a hundred lines. Copy the CODEOWNERS pattern if you have anything resembling a board or steering committee that should have a harder veto than your day-to-day maintainers. Read the working group manual end to end before you build a report-handling process from scratch, most of the hard judgment calls are already made in there.

And if you want the record-keeping spreadsheets as actual templates instead of a description, here they are, cleaned of real data and history. Each link opens a "Make a copy" prompt instead of our live copy, so you get your own independent version:

  1. Report Tracker, the case-by-case log with the code name generator built in
  2. Person Identity Key, the restricted sheet mapping code names back to real names
  3. Public Tracker, which pulls the Annual Stats tab out of the Report Tracker via IMPORTRANGE for anything you publish externally

Copying doesn't rewire them to each other. The IMPORTRANGE formula in your copy of the Public Tracker will still point at our Report Tracker, not yours, since Sheets copies the formula text as-is. After you copy both, open the Public Tracker, find the IMPORTRANGE formula on the Annual Stats tab, and replace our spreadsheet URL with the URL of your own copy of the Report Tracker. The first time it runs against the new URL, Sheets will show a #REF! error with an "Allow access" link. Click it once and the formula resolves.

A Code of Conduct is an exercise in trust. The processes and mechanics we've put in place are designed to make that trust verifiable, not just assumed. If you want to borrow them, please do. If you have improvements, please share them! We're available on email at conduct@djangoproject.com or open an issue against the working group repo and we'll respond.

From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-24 11:38:29

Criminal Deception in Silicon Valley

Interesting paper:

Abstract: With entrepreneurial fraud cases on the rise, we investigate how entrepreneurs carry out criminal deception, employing deceptive means to defraud audiences. Analyzing court data from Silicon Valley ventures and their founders prosecuted for fraud between 2000 and 2023, our findings reveal that entrepreneurs carry out criminal deception through a process of façading: Entrepreneurs construct, perform, and protect illusory appearances (façades) that externally project high-growth performance to audiences while masking ventures’ actual underperformance. We identify three forms of façading—­surface, reinforced, and deep façading­—that are contingent on the severity of the gap that entrepreneurs face between audiences’ performance expectations and ventures’ performance reality. Our theoretical framework captures how entrepreneurs facing minor, wide, and extreme expectation-reality gaps engage in evermore sophisticated efforts to detach the venture’s externally projected appearance from its actual operational reality. Practically, we propose several approaches to deter and detect criminal deception, including the extension of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission surveillance and whistleblower program, investor due diligence reform, and dedicated entrepreneurship education interventions that clearly demarcate when entrepreneurs transgress into criminal deception. We make contributions to literatures on cultural entrepreneurship, organizational wrongdoing, and the social effects of entrepreneurship. ...

From Odd Lots at 2026-08-24 09:00:00

The Nigerian Industrial Behemoth That Could Reshape the African Economy (audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=982f5071-765c-403d-969d-ae27003a8d83)

Earlier in August, it was reported that Nigeria's Dangote Refinery secured a $1 billion underwriting for its upcoming stock market listing, which is set to become Africa's largest IPO. Indeed, the whole the continent has seen lots of economic growth in the last few years: According to the United Nations, growth across Africa was expected to reach 4.0% in 2026. The history of economic development on the continent is a vexed one; access to critical resources, whether its minerals or petrochemicals, has not always equated to improved economic conditions. To understand what is going on in Africa, we talk to Joe Studwell, the author of How Africa Works: Success and Failure on the World's Last Developmental Frontier. The product of a decade of reporting, Studwell's book argues that African countries, in many instances, have failed to adopt development strategies (an industrial policy that favors export manufacturing for instance) that mirror Asian counterparts. And while development has been uneven, Studwell is optimistic that the seeds of sustained development are increasingly taking root, at least in some countries. We speak to Studwell about the Dangote IPO, why development has historically been so difficult, Rwanda's dreams of becoming Africa's Singapore, and why Lagos is one of the most impressive cities in the world.

Read more:
Dangote Offers East Africa Nations 30% Stake in New Refinery
T. Rowe Price Says Nigeria Attractive Even After 64% Stock Rally

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From The Rest Is History at 2026-08-24 00:05:00

699. The Troubles: Return of the IRA (Part 3) (GLT9519811642.mp3)

What was the Provisional IRA, and why did they return to the fray at the high point of The Troubles in Northern Ireland? How did a series of bloody battles, including  the Short Strand Battle, brutally intensify tensions between the British Army and Catholic communities? And, how did the conflict spiral into attacks on civilians…? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the violent escalation of The Troubles. *The Rest Is History LIVE: The Ultimate Victorian Adventure* The maddest expedition in history and it’s NEVER been heard before on the show: join Tom Holland & Dominic Sandbrook LIVE at the Southbank as they tell the bonkers story of Queen Victoria ordering one of history’s most daring assignments ever. ⁠⁠⁠⁠Tickets available for Friday 4th September⁠⁠⁠⁠, the Saturday show is SOLD OUT. _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editors: Jack Meek, Harry Swan + Adam Thornton  Social Producer: Harry Balden Producers: Tabby Syrett & Aaliyah Akude  Senior Producer: Callum Hill   Executive Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-08-23 08:00:00

‘Bloodbath’: Why Trump could lose the House over the Iran war (media.mp3)

As the Strait of Hormuz closure pushes US petrol prices past $4 a gallon and Donald Trump’s approval ratings hit rock bottom, the Republicans are increasingly worried the Iran war could create a “bloodbath” in the midterms. 


In this bonus episode of Iran: The Latest, Venetia Rainey is joined by chief Washington correspondent Connor Stringer to look at five ways the Middle East conflict is actively reshaping domestic US politics, from the economy to splits in the Democrats and Republicans to record spending pro-Israel lobby group AIPAC. Could Trump lose the House of Representatives because of the war?


Plus, how the November US midterm elections work, what’s a Super PAC, and the key primary races you need to know about. 


Highlights

  • Why Trump could lose the House over the Iran war
  • ‘It could be a bloodbath for the Republicans’


CONTRIBUTORS:

Venetia Rainey, co-host and executive producer @venetiarainey

Connor Stringer, chief Washington correspondent @connorstringer


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: Joleen Goffin and David Dargahi

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/



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From More or Less at 2026-08-22 06:00:00

How much of the world isn’t owned by anyone? (p0p2yqx6.mp3)

Sometimes world events of massive practical significance lead our minds towards some lovely impractical thoughts. So it was for loyal listener, Nigel.

Pondering the conflict in Iran, and the maritime ownership of the Straits of Hormuz that has become its focus, his mind wandered to an altogether bigger and - honestly - far less important question.

“How much of the world surface actually doesn't belong to anyone?” he wondered.

To try and answer Nigel’s question, we enlisted the help of Mark Cooper-Jones, one half of YouTube duo Map Men.

If you’ve seen a number in the news that you think we should take a look at, or have a interesting statistical question like Nigel, get in touch: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Lizzy McNeill Producer: Josh McMinn Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: James Beard Editor: Richard Vadon

From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2026-08-22 00:11:49

Collections: Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part Vb: Pixel Armies for Pixel Societies

This is the second half of the final part (I, IIa, IIb, III, IVa, IVb, Va, Vb) of our apparently five-part series laying out some general guidelines for how pre-modern armies are organized, with fictional worldbuilding and historical patterns in mind. Last time we started checking some fictional militaries against the general patterns we’ve laid … Continue reading Collections: Pre-Modern Armies for Worldbuilders, Part Vb: Pixel Armies for Pixel Societies

From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-21 22:07:20

Friday Squid Blogging: Neon Flying Squid

The neon flying squid can fly in formation.

The shoal of about 100 squid rose unexpectedly from a patch of the Pacific Ocean around 370 miles from Tokyo and glided near the boat for about 30 metres. The astonished researchers were the first to capture photographs of such a thing, which looked like the early stages of an alien invasion.

They were probably neon flying squid (Ommastrephes bartramii), the subsequent study states, a species that is part of a 20-strong flying squid family that was known to leap from the water but, until then, was only rumoured to also be able to glide above it...

From The Incomparable Mothership at 2026-08-21 18:00:00

831: What Is Even Bolivia? (ea96f60d-f62f-4f94-8f53-ac7cdb17e779.mp3)

Our Summer of Sundance kicks off with Sundance himself, as we travel back to the end of the old west (and, later, to the garden spot of Bolivia) to visit a couple of robbers, their lady friend, and their not-very-important gang with “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.” Did they use enough dynamite? Is Woodcock a little too loyal to his employer? What does it say about the old west when a call for a posse is hijacked by a bicycle salesman?...

From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-21 17:51:50

AI Is Learning to Write Genetic Code

This sort of research is both exciting and terrifying:

The two models in question were told to generate complete genomes for a viable bacteriophage—a type of virus able to infect and replicate itself inside bacteria, destroying them from the inside.

Using an existing bacteriophage as an example—ΦX174 (pronounced “fie-ex-1-7-4”), known for its ability to infect and destroy E. coli bacteria—the models generated about 700,000 potential designs, of which the researchers picked 285 that looked most promising.

The researchers then synthesised new DNA molecules using those designs and inserted them into E. coli bacteria, before waiting to see if viable bacteriophages would emerge...

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-08-21 17:17:34

‘No way out’: How Trump trapped US in Iran war as world stands by (media.mp3)

‘If there were a university delivering degrees in strategic malpractice, Donald Trump would without a doubt graduate summa cum laude.’


On today’s episode of Iran: the Latest, Roland Oliphant gets a damning assessment of the US-Iran war from one of America’s most seasoned Middle East diplomats, Aaron David Miller. A former State Department analyst and negotiator across six Republican and Democratic administrations and now a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Miller delivers a blunt verdict on Washington’s strategic failures. 


As the Middle East conflict hits the six-month mark and the Strait of Hormuz remains officially closed, he explains why he can see no clear exit options for Trump. Despite Washington unleashing an "economic D-Day" and the "toughest sanctions in history," Tehran shows no sign of backing down. 


Plus, why Secretary of State Marco Rubio is MIA and how a “serious retrenchment” of US forces in the Gulf is likely, amid news that some bases may not be fully rebuilt after the war. 


Highlights

  • ‘Trump would graduate summa cum laude in strategic malpractice'
  • Veteran US diplomat Aaron David Miller on the US-Iran war 


CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant

Aaron David Miller, senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace @aarondmiller2


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: David Dargahi 

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From Biz & IT - Ars Technica at 2026-08-21 14:11:35

Waymo doubles spending on lobbying in robotaxi battle with Uber

Alphabet-owned company is seeking to persuade US regulators to clear a path for fully autonomous taxi services.

From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-21 10:42:34

More Incidents of AIs Going Rogue in Cybersecurity Challenges

The AI Security Institute has a new report of AI systems engaging in “unsanctioned behavior”—what I have been calling “genie behavior—while being tested on their cybersecurity capabilities.

The incident stemmed from a single evaluation where agents were given a task of solving a cyber security challenge. We ran this challenge 122 times across several models. Our investigation found that in 10 of those runs, an AI agent took autonomous, unsanctioned action on the live internet, targeting real people and organisations. In total, we catalogued 19 such actions. Almost all of this behaviour (17 actions) came from a single model, Anthropic’s Mythos 5, with 2 actions involving OpenAI’s GPT-5.6-Sol with cyber classifiers (mechanisms to prevent misuse) disabled. In the most serious case, an agent tried to insert malicious code into an open-source project. In an attempt to get the code approved, the agent engaged in social engineering—creating fake online identities and using them to pressure the project’s maintainer to approve the code. A human maintainer caught and refused to approve the malicious code...

From School of War at 2026-08-21 10:00:00

When Terrorists Become the Heroes to Young Americans (CBS4733149197.mp3)

In prerevolutionary Russia, it was not uncommon for children to dream of becoming terrorists when they grew up. “It was a respected profession,” says Northwestern University professor Gary Saul Morson, who now sees troubling parallels between modern-day America and an era in Russia when terrorism became fashionable and radicals came to see violence as an expression of moral virtue. Today, Morson joins School of War to discuss what Fyodor Dostoyevsky understood about the terrorist mind, why good people can be persuaded to support terrible acts, and what America loses when it stops teaching the history of communism in schools. 3:09 America and Revolutionary Russia 3:47 The Rise of Modern Terrorism 4:38 When Terrorism Became a Respected Profession 6:10 Why Terrorists Had So Much Power 6:22 Why Russian Liberals Failed to Oppose Terrorism 7:26 The Danger of Celebrating Political Violence 9:36 Dostoevsky’s Radical Youth 11:31 Dostoevsky’s Arrest and Mock Execution 13:15 Understanding the Psychology of Revolutionaries 14:29 How Dostoevsky Predicted Totalitarianism 17:55 Why Communism Was Worse Than the Czars 20:11 Why Liberals Must Oppose Extremism 22:02 The Psychology of Left-Wing Totalitarianism 24:53 What Young People Don’t Know About Communism 28:16 How Good People Come to Support Evil 34:06 What Left and Right-Wing Extremists Have in Common 36:17 How Do We Fight Political Extremism? This episode of School of War is brought to you by Maven Smart System, the builder platform for the American warfighter, fielded across the force and live on the frontline today. Learn more at palantir.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From Odd Lots at 2026-08-21 09:00:00

Jasmine Sun on What the AI Industry Got Wrong About the Public Backlash (audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=982f5071-765c-403d-969d-ae27003a8d83)

Within the AI industry, even the builders of it have been very anxious about the technology. They've talked for years about its potential to create destabilizing job losses. They even spend a lot of time thinking about rogue AI that could lead to human extinction. But for all their anxiety, they missed the thing that's become the most publicly salient: how upset people would be about building data centers. Part of this was understandable. Data center construction has been happening for a long time in America, and it used to be relatively uncontroversial. In fact, cities and states would often design their tax code to incentivize data center construction. Now there's this complete 180. On this episode, we speak with independent writer and Substacker Jasmine Sun, who recently traveled to Wisconsin and Michigan for some on-the-ground reporting about the communities and activists trying to stop data center development. She explains what the pushback is really all about, what it represents, and what future developers will have to do in order to be welcomed in.

Come see Odd Lots live in Los Angeles, get your tickets now.

Read more:
Anthropic-Tied Data Center Inks $1.3 Billion Private Credit Loan
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro to Limit New Data Centers

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From The Django weblog at 2026-08-21 03:11:52

DSF Membership Open Space at DjangoCon US

If you are at DjangoCon US this year, join us for 45 minutes to talk about the Django Software Foundation.

  • What: Django Software Foundation Membership Open Space
  • When: Wednesday, August 26th, 1:00 pm to 1:45 pm
  • Where: Wolf Point Ballroom, voco Chicago Downtown
  • Schedule: Talks: Wednesday, Aug 26

DSF Board Directors Jeff Triplett, Abigail Afi Gbadago, and Paolo Melchiorre will be there, along with Django Fellows, Steering Council members, and other DSF members. This is an open space, not a talk. Pull up a chair and bring your questions.

What We Want to Talk About

  • Fundraising and finances. We raised our 2026 goal to $500,000. We'll cover what it funds, most of it the Django Fellows, and how we are tracking against it. If your company depends on Django, or you know one that does, ask us about corporate membership and sponsorship.
  • The Executive Director search. The DSF is hiring its first Executive Director, and applications are open through midnight Central Time on September 14, 2026. If you are thinking about applying, or know someone who should, ask us about the role.
  • Membership. How individual membership works, how people become members, and what members do. Members vote in DSF elections, and we would like more of you to.
  • Working groups and teams. You don't need to be a DSF member to join a working group, and we could use your help. Teams work a little differently, and we can explain the difference.
  • The Steering Council. A short update on DEP 19, which rewrites Django's technical governance, and DEP 20, which moves Django to one feature release a year.

This is your time as much as ours. If you have a question about how the Foundation spends its money, how decisions get made, or why something is the way it is, ask it. We would rather answer a hard question in a room in Chicago than in a thread three weeks from now.

One note on scope: this session is about the Foundation, not about code. We will touch on the DEPs above, but patches, ORM internals, and your favorite ticket belong to the rest of the week.

Who Should Come

Everyone. You do not have to be a DSF member to attend: no sign-in sheet and no membership check at the door.

If you are already an Individual Member, meet the others. If you have been curious about joining, see what you would be joining. And if you use Django at work but have never thought much about the Foundation behind it, that is a fine reason to stop by.

Can't Make It?

Send anything you want raised through the Contact the DSF page, or find us on the Django Forum. We will follow up on anything worth sharing more widely.

See you Wednesday.

From GoodFellows: Conversations on Economics, History & Geopolitics at 2026-08-20 18:49:50

Endless Summer: Iran, Woke Two?, and the George Costanza Theory of War (GoodFellows_2026-08-19_wip03_podcast_aqwen.mp3)

On the latest GoodFellows: Is economic strangulation the key to achieving Iranian cooperation, or another misstep in the Persian Gulf? Is a sequel to “Woke 1” in the works? And does playing the race card in the aftermath of a former Cambridge University professor's suicide make his death even more tragic – and distract from another tragedy: declining academic tragedy? Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

From Schneier on Security at 2026-08-20 18:44:36

Detailed Timeline of OpenAI’s Cyberattack on Hugging Face

OpenAI presented details of its AI’s model’s cyberattack on Hugging Face at Black Hat last week. Simon Willison details the timeline. It’s really interesting to read through—and really impressive cyberoffense work.

From Iran: The Latest at 2026-08-20 16:20:21

Trump vows 'economic D-Day' as US jets escort oil tankers through Hormuz (media.mp3)

Donald Trump has vowed an ‘economic D-Day’ to crush Iran, amid news that the US military is stealthily getting oil out of the Strait of Hormuz despite Tehran’s attacks. Will US jets escorting tankers stop oil prices from rising further?


In today’s episode of Iran: The Latest, Roland Oliphant talks to Matthew Savill, director of Military Sciences at the UK’s Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), to dissect the reality of Iran’s diminishing maritime leverage in the war, and how effective economic pressure will be on the Iranian regime. 


Plus, Britain’s diminishing minehunting capabilities in the Middle East, why Iran views the UK as the ‘Little Satan’, and what it’s like to be attacked by Iranian-backed militias in Iraq. 


Highlights

  • Donald Trump vows ‘economic D-Day’ to crush Iran
  • US military stealthily getting oil out of the Strait of Hormuz


CONTRIBUTORS:

Roland Oliphant, co-host and chief foreign affairs analyst @RolandOliphant

Matthew Savill, RUSI director of Military Sciences, @MTSavill


WATCH US ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJnf_DDTfIVAif-vifC6F2aoPB8GIw6dk


CONTENT REFERENCED:

Trump declares ‘economic D-Day’ against Iran

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2026/08/20/trump-declares-economic-d-day-iran-sanctions/


Winner Best News and Analysis Podcast - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026

Nominated Podcast of the Year - Society of Editors News Podcasts Awards 2026

Nominated Best News, Politics and Current Affairs - British Podcast Awards 2026

The Telegraph, Winner Podcast Publisher of the Year 2026 - Publisher Podcast Awards 2026


Audio Producer: David Dargahi 

Video Producer: Max Bower

Researcher and Social Producer: Anna Hindmarsh

Studio Operator: Andy Watson

Executive Producer: Venetia Rainey 

► Sign up to our most popular newsletter, From the Editor. Look forward to receiving free-thinking comment and the day's biggest stories, every morning. telegraph.co.uk/fromtheeditor

► EMAIL US: Contact the team on battlelines@telegraph.co.uk

► GET THE LATEST HEADLINES: Find all our latest Iran coverage here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/iran-war/



Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.