Recent Entries

From The Django weblog at 2025-10-25 18:53:48

On the Air for Django’s 20th Birthday: Special Event Station W2D

Back in July, we celebrated a very special occasion: Django’s 20th birthday 🎉 To mark the occasion, three amateur radio operators (including myself) spent the next 14 days, operating evenings and weekends, broadcasting a special event call sign: W2D.

Over those two weeks, we completed 1,026 radio contacts with radio operators in 47 geopolitical entities (for example, the continental US, Alaska and Hawaii are considered separate entities). The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issues special event "call signs" for these types of events. We selected W2D for 20 years of Django, but the reference to "Web 2.0" during Django's early years was a bonus!

Over 7,000 lookups were counted on a main callsign lookup site as radio operators checked into what W2D was about. Ham radio is a very popular activity, with more than 750,000 licensed hams in the US!

We created a custom certificate inspired by the design of the Django admin interface for those who made contact with us (certificates are common / expected for events like this in the radio hobby). Here is a sample one, other amateurs contacting the event were able to generate/download their own Django admin inspired certificate from a Django site (which does repeat for those who contacted us multiple times):

Thank you to the amateur radio operators who made the event possible and of course those who contacted us! Thanks to you this was a fun time for us all. Additionally, thank you to the Django Software Foundation and its members who make the Django Web Framework and its community possible.

This screenshot shows 3 other stations (ON7EQ from Belgium, PC2J from the Netherlands, and WA4NFO from the US all calling W2D on "20 meters" (14 MHz, so named because the wavelength would be 20 meters long per wave) All of the orange bubbles in the map show the other stations receiving the signal from W2D being transmitted with 30 watts of RF power. The antenna is an approximately 63 foot long piece of wire running between a balcony and a fence post.

This map shows approximate locations of each geopolitical entity worked during the special event and a count of contacts made in each.

Check out our birthday website for more events – up next, PyDay + Cumple Django organized by PyLadies Colombia in Bogotá 🇨🇴 💛💙❤️

From The Week in Westminster at 2025-10-25 11:41:00

25/10/2025 (p0mbscp3.mp3)

Radio 4's assessment of developments at Westminster

From More or Less: Behind the Stats at 2025-10-25 06:00:00

Is your housework split sexist? (p0mbnq09.mp3)

Do you ever have fights with your partner about who does more of the housework and whether it’s fair? Well data might have the answer.

Corinne Low is an associate professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She analyses surveys of how people spend their time, particularly in terms of “home production” - that is things like cooking and cleaning, and “market work”, that is, paid work.

If you’re the male half of a heterosexual couple, then she’s got some stats you should hear.

Tim sat down to talk it all over while Corinne was in the UK to promote her new book on the subject - titled Femonomics in the UK, and Having It All in the US.

Presenter: Tim Harford Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Janet Staples Sound mix: Giles Aspen Editor: Richard Vadon

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-24 22:53:20

A single point of failure triggered the Amazon outage affecting millions

A DNS manager in a single region of Amazon's sprawling network touched off a 16-hour debacle.

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-24 22:07:38

Friday Squid Blogging: “El Pulpo The Squid”

There is a new cigar named “El Pulpo The Squid.” Yes, that means “The Octopus The 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 A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2025-10-24 19:07:07

Fireside Friday, October 24, 2025

Hey, folks! Fireside this week! I don’t have a burning topic this week, but as I’ve mentioned, I’m teaching Latin 101 and 102 this semester (and next). One of the things that’s interesting about that is of course students learning vocabulary for the first time tend to learn pretty simple 1-to-1 definitions. That’s necessary and … Continue reading Fireside Friday, October 24, 2025 →

From The Incomparable Mothership at 2025-10-24 17:30:00

789: A Hunting Lodge for Rich Weirdos (a20e9bcb-c5ae-45e8-87c8-7cbbb5a8b2de.mp3)

We celebrate the 50th anniversary of the longest-running theatrical run of all time—“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”! It’s an unapologetic musical about being yourself (and giving yourself over to pleasure). It spawned a cultural phenomenon that’s still evolving, and making some of us feel old! If you’re a weirdo, you’re welcome here....

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-24 12:01:14

Part Four of The Kryptos Sculpture

Two people found the solution. They used the power of research, not cryptanalysis, finding clues amongst the Sanborn papers at the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art.

This comes as an awkward time, as Sanborn is auctioning off the solution. There were legal threats—I don’t understand their basis—and the solvers are not publishing their solution.

From School of War at 2025-10-24 10:30:00

Ep 242: Michael Sobolik on On Donald Trump’s Trade War with China (NEBM3012679546.mp3)

Michael Sobolik, senior fellow at Hudson Institute and author of Countering China’s Great Game: A Strategy for American Dominance, joins the show to discuss the current state of relations between the U.S. and China as Xi Jinping and Donald Trump are scheduled to meet in South Korea next week. ▪️ Times 00:00 The Broader Competition: US-China Relations 02:51 Trump's Trade Strategy: A Historical Perspective 09:35 China's Strategic Objectives: Beyond Economics 14:16 Xi Jinping's Goals: The Summit Agenda 18:20 Export Controls: A New Era of Trade Tensions 22:36 The Stakes of No Deal: Economic and Strategic Implications 26:35 Decoupling from China: Challenges and Opportunities 33:05 Defining a Good Deal: Beyond Trade 37:22 TikTok: The Information Warfare Front Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

From The Rest Is History at 2025-10-24 00:05:00

Julius Caesar, with Mary Beard (GLT5960616428.mp3?updated=1761239376)

What is the main difference between Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great? When did Julius Caesar become one of the major players of the Roman Republic? What was the true nature of Caesar’s relationship with Cleopatra? How did he manage to defeat his enemies to become Dictator of Rome for life? And, how did he finally meet his violent, blood-spattered end?  In the third episode of this exclusive new series on ancient history, Tom is joined again by the world renowned classicist Mary Beard, to discuss Julius Caesar: the legendary Roman general who changed Rome forever, and doomed himself along the way… _______ Twitter:@TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Senior Producer: Theo Young-Smith Producer: Tabby Syrett Assistant Producer: Aaliyah Akude  Video Editor: Jack Meek  Social Producer: Harry Balden Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From The Briefing Room at 2025-10-23 20:10:00

Is there a crash coming? (p0mbf950.mp3)

Some of the biggest figures in finance, from the CEO of JPMorganChase to the Governor of the Bank of England, have been warning of potential shocks to the global economy.

As excitement continues to build about the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence, the US stock market has boomed, potentially forming a fragile bubble. Meanwhile, recent bankruptcies in America have raised worries that a rapid growth in lending by private companies (so-called shadow banks) might be built on shaky ground - and have invoked memories of the subprime mortgage debacle that kicked off the Great Financial Crisis in 2007. And if that wasn’t enough, the threat that Donald Trump might reignite his tariff-driven trade war still looms over the global economy.

So how worried should we be? David Aaronovitch speaks to the top experts to find out.

Guests: Katie Martin, markets columnist at the Financial Times Duncan Weldon, economist and author of Blood and Treasure Simon French, Chief Economist and Head of Research at investment company Panmure Liberum

Presenter: David Aaronovitch Producers: Nathan Gower, Kirsteen Knight Editor: Richard Vadon Programme Coordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound Engineer: Duncan Hannant

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-23 12:04:48

Serious F5 Breach

This is bad:

F5, a Seattle-based maker of networking software, disclosed the breach on Wednesday. F5 said a “sophisticated” threat group working for an undisclosed nation-state government had surreptitiously and persistently dwelled in its network over a “long-term.” Security researchers who have responded to similar intrusions in the past took the language to mean the hackers were inside the F5 network for years.

During that time, F5 said, the hackers took control of the network segment the company uses to create and distribute updates for BIG IP, a line of server appliances that F5 ...

From Strong Message Here at 2025-10-23 09:45:00

In Hindsight (with Ria Lina and Tim Shipman) (p0mb36xn.mp3)

This week, Armando is joined again by comedian Ria Lina, and Political Editor of The Spectator, Tim Shipman.

We're looking back at looking back. In a week where a scandal-hit Prince renounces his titles and the Chinese spy case continues to pose questions of language for the government, people's previous decisions are being put under the spotlight, we look at how public figures respond to the repercussions of their past. Of course, hindsight is 20:20.

Speaking of 2020, there's also chat about the covid inquiry, and whether we're getting the results we need, or just lurid detail?

Got a strong message for Armando? Email us on strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk

Sound editing: Chris Maclean Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman Executive Producer: Pete Strauss Recorded at The Sound Company

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios production for Radio 4.

From The Django weblog at 2025-10-23 08:28:17

PyCharm & Django annual fundraiser

We are excited to share the news about our annual fundraiser – and a new way for you to benefit from it. We need your help to support key initiatives such as:

• Django Fellows: Ensuring the rapid development and maintenance of Django.
• Djangonaut Space: Onboarding new contributors to the Django project.
• Django Girls: Making the Django community accessible to programming beginners around the world.

From today to November 11, you have a unique opportunity to support Django through our "Buy PyCharm, Support Django" campaign. By purchasing PyCharm, you benefit in two powerful ways:

1. Enhance your development: Gain access to a professional tool designed to maximize your productivity with features like first-class database management, API management, and frontend support.
2. Support Django ✨: Contribute directly to the Django Software Foundation. When you purchase PyCharm at a 30% discount through our special campaign link, JetBrains will donate an equal amount to the Django Software Foundation.

Get 30% off PyCharm, Support Django

This is a wonderful opportunity to contribute to the community that supports you and improve your own development process with a top-notch tool.

Thank you for your ongoing support and dedication to Django. 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:

• On our website via credit card
• Via GitHub Sponsors
• For those able to make a larger donation as corporate sponsors ($2000+), check out our corporate sponsors form

From The History Book Buffs at 2025-10-23 04:58:00

Inside Operation Biting: The History Book Buffs read Max Hastings. (https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-9-22%2F409755656-44100-2-76bd373b13dbd.mp3)

🔍 Inside Operation Biting: Antonia and Roger review Operation Biting, Max Hastings's account of one of WWII’s Most Daring Raids | Churchill, Radar & Revolution

Step into the shadows of World War II as we uncover the high-stakes raid known as Operation Biting, brilliantly chronicled by legendary historian Max Hastings. In this thrilling breakdown, we explore one of the war’s most fascinating and covert missions — where technology, strategy, and courage collided on the cliffs of Nazi-occupied France.

Discover how Churchill’s bold strategic vision led to one of the first successful British airborne operations, and how the scramble to dominate radar technology turned warfare into a science. We spotlight the personalities behind the mission, the “Boffins” driving innovation, and the raid's lasting impact on military strategy and propaganda efforts on the home front.

💥 Whether you're a student of military history, a fan of WWII deep dives, or fascinated by the blend of warfare and invention, this episode delivers insights, surprises, and plenty of storytelling firepower.

👥 Featuring: Max Hastings
🎯 Topics: Operation Biting, Churchill’s War Cabinet, airborne operations, radar capture, technological warfare, WWII strategy, and more!

🔥 Key Highlights:
00:00 – What Was Operation Biting?
01:48 – The Boffin's War: How Tech Changed the Battlefield
06:33 – Churchill’s Role in Taking the Fight to the Nazis
12:02 – The Human Element: Soldiers, Scientists & Strategy
17:42 – The Raid Itself: Execution, Challenges, and Heroism
23:18 – What Came After: Lessons, Legacy & Military Evolution

💬 Memorable Moments:
“Would you rather jump out of a dark plane?”
“Warfare is the mother of invention.”
“Everything went right during the raid.”

📚 Related Keywords:
WWII, Operation Biting, Max Hastings, military history, Churchill, radar, airborne raid, British commandos, World War 2, technological innovation, The Boffin’s War, espionage, war strategy, WWII operations, history documentary

👍 Like this content? Don’t forget to Subscribe, Like, and Comment with your thoughts on Operation Biting or your favorite WWII military operation!

#WWII #MilitaryHistory #OperationBiting #MaxHastings #Churchill #RadarWar #AirborneOperations #BoffinsWar #WW2Raid #WarfareTechnology

Let me know if you want a shorter version or a version tailored to a different audience (e.g. more casual viewers or academic enthusiasts).

From The Rest Is History at 2025-10-23 00:05:00

611. Nelson: Bonaparte Prepares to Strike (Part 4) (GLT9281187489.mp3?updated=1761174762)

With Britain at war for more than eight long years, and her people depleted and hungry, how did her government react to the news that Napoleon Bonaparte was planning a full-scale invasion in 1801? What happened when Nelson tried to attack the French at Boulogne, and what was the terrible cost? Why was the provisional peace treaty signed between the British and the French at the end of September, doomed to fail? Meanwhile, how was Nelson’s personal life with the flamboyant Emma Hamilton, in their ostentatious new home, developing? And, with Britain declaring war on France in 1803, would Nelson rally, and seize his destiny at last? Join Dominic and Tom as they trace the aftermath of Nelson’s triumph in Copenhagen, his notorious personal life, and his clashes with Napoleon’s fleet.  _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Exec Producer: Dom Johnson  Senior Producer: Theo Young-Smith Producer: Tabby Syrett Assistant Producer: Aaliyah Akude  Video Editor: Harry Swan Social Producer: Harry Balden Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-22 23:35:41

Cache poisoning vulnerabilities found in 2 DNS resolving apps

At least one CVE could weaken defenses put in place following 2008 disclosure.

From The Django weblog at 2025-10-22 18:00:00

Django 6.0 beta 1 released

Django 6.0 beta 1 is now available. It represents the second stage in the 6.0 release cycle and is an opportunity to try out the changes coming in Django 6.0.

Django 6.0 assembles a mosaic of modern tools and thoughtful design, which you can read about in the in-development 6.0 release notes.

Only bugs in new features and regressions from earlier Django versions will be fixed between now and the 6.0 final release. Translations will be updated following the "string freeze", which occurs when the release candidate is issued. The current release schedule calls for a release candidate in about a month, with the final release scheduled roughly two weeks later on December 3.

Early and frequent testing from the community will help minimize the number of bugs in the release. Updates on the release schedule are available on the Django forum.

As with all alpha and beta packages, this release is not for production use. However, if you'd like to try some of the new features or help find and fix bugs (which should be reported to the issue tracker), you can grab a copy of the beta package from our downloads page or on PyPI.

The PGP key ID used for this release is Natalia Bidart: 2EE82A8D9470983E

From The Media Show at 2025-10-22 17:29:00

Reporting on the Prince Andrew scandal, 'slow journalism' and how AI is influencing how we consume news (p0mb4gr6.mp3)

Ros Atkins talks to Paul Salopek the journalist who’s walking around the world in search of stories. We catch up with him in Alaska. We’ll hear about new research on how AI is influencing how we consume news - and what impact that is having on the information we trust - with Luke Tryl, from the think tank More in Common, and Niamh Burns, senior analyst in Tech and Media at Enders Analysis. And how have the media reported the Prince Andrew scandal with royal biographer Robert Hardman, broadcaster Simon McCoy and royal correspondent Emily Andrews. Producer: Lisa Jenkinson Content Producer: Lucy Wai

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-22 12:03:14

Failures in Face Recognition

Interesting article on people with nonstandard faces and how facial recognition systems fail for them.

Some of those living with facial differences tell WIRED they have undergone multiple surgeries and experienced stigma for their entire lives, which is now being echoed by the technology they are forced to interact with. They say they haven’t been able to access public services due to facial verification services failing, while others have struggled to access financial services. Social media filters and face-unlocking systems on phones often won’t work, they say...

From The Last Best Hope? at 2025-10-22 05:00:00

Trump’s Second Term Foreign Policy in Historical Context (media.mp3)

Beneath the chaos of Donald Trump’s second term foreign policy—the bluster, bravado, back-handers and backdowns—is there something else going on? Has the United States reached a turning point in its relationship to the rest of the world?

The era in which the United States constructed multilateral alliances to defend western Europe and advance a global free trade agenda appears to be over. Listen to the people around Trump and you will hear them talking in quite different ways – contempt for Western Europe, admiration for the audacity of Putin in reasserting Russia’s regional sphere of influence. It is as if the United States has decided to retrench geopolitically – controlling Greenland, fantasising about annexing Canada, realising total domination of the northern part of the western hemisphere with all its mineral wealth and, with climate change, new strategically vital sea-lanes?

But if this is a new American foreign policy, is it one that has more than an echo of the pre-Second World War past? After all, it was a commonplace of nineteenth-century US politicians to make fiery speeches threatening to annexe Canada, and they actually did annexe half of Mexico and threaten much more.

So, are there ways in which pre-1941 ideas about the US’s role in the world are relevant to understanding the US’s current geopolitical choices? And what does that tell us about the future?

Adam Smith speaks to Daniel Drezner, Distinguished Professor of International Politics and Academic Dean at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University., prolific writer and author, among many other books and article, of The Toddler in Chief: What Donald Trump teaches us about the modern presidency and to Jay Sexton, President of the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, Rich and Nancy Kinder Chair of Constitutional Democracy at the University of Missouri, also a prolific writer, among his influential books is The Monroe Doctrine: Empire and Nation in Nineteenth Century America

The Last Best Hope? is a podcast of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford. For details of our programming go to rai.ox.ac.uk

Producer: Emily Williams. Presenter: Adam Smith

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

From Quite right! at 2025-10-22 00:01:00

Should Prince Andrew be exiled? And how multiculturalism failed in Birmingham (media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=5P8HuuT0YNfM2Bp_LJSOJXTNK1FWN-Rf1-g0PuQkdTU)

This week on Quite right!: the slow-motion disgrace of Prince Andrew. As Virginia Giuffre’s new book reignites the Epstein scandal, Michael and Maddie ask: how much longer can the monarchy carry its most toxic member? Or should the Duke of York be stripped of his titles and sent into exile?

Then to Birmingham, where sectarian politics, bin strikes and football collide. After Israeli fans were barred from attending a Europa League match, Michael and Maddie debate how Britain’s second city became a byword for failed multiculturalism. Has the country finally started telling the truth about integration – or just found new ways to divide itself?

Finally, the British Museum’s attempt to out-glamour the Met Gala. From Ed Vaizey’s ‘LSD-infused Del Boy’ outfit to George Osborne’s A-list trolling in front of the Elgin Marbles, Maddie asks: have we reached peak luvvie? And what would a truly British gala look like?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.

For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.

Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk

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

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-21 12:07:34

A Cybersecurity Merit Badge

Scouting America (formerly known as Boy Scouts) has a new badge in cybersecurity. There’s an image in the article; it looks good.

I want one.

From School of War at 2025-10-21 10:30:00

Ep 241: Julian Jackson on Nazi-Occupied France and Pétain (NEBM7551390508.mp3)

Julian Jackson, Emeritus Professor of Modern French History at Queen Mary University of London and author of France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Pétain, joins the show to discuss the rise and fall of “the Lion of Verdun”; Philippe Pétain. ▪️ Times    01:06 Introduction    01:53 How Pétain became the “Hero of France” in WW1    11:32  France sues for peace with Germany in 1940    18:52 The legality of the armistice    27:49 Churchill’s take on the armistice             33:48 What Was Vichy France?    41:43 Vichy’s treatment of the Jews        53:05 Distancing France from extermination             58:13 Why does Pétain stay a servant to the Nazis    01:07:38 Vichy and Pétain on trial today             Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-20 23:18:22

NSO permanently barred from targeting WhatsApp users with Pegasus spyware

Ruling holds that defeating end-to-end encryption in WhatsApp harms Meta's business.

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-20 12:00:28

Agentic AI’s OODA Loop Problem

The OODA loop—for observe, orient, decide, act—is a framework to understand decision-making in adversarial situations. We apply the same framework to artificial intelligence agents, who have to make their decisions with untrustworthy observations and orientation. To solve this problem, we need new systems of input, processing, and output integrity.

Many decades ago, U.S. Air Force Colonel John Boyd introduced the concept of the “OODA loop,” for Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act. These are the four steps of real-time continuous decision-making. Boyd developed it for fighter pilots, but it’s long been applied in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics. An AI agent, like a pilot, executes the loop over and over, accomplishing its goals iteratively within an ever-changing environment. This is Anthropic’s definition: “Agents are models using tools in a loop.”...

From The Rest Is History at 2025-10-20 00:05:00

610. Nelson: The Battle of Copenhagen (Part 3) (GLT9153225543.mp3?updated=1760902107)

With fears that the powerful Danish fleet would join with the French against the British, what great gamble did Horatio Nelson take? After taking the drastic decision to attack the Danish fleet in their own harbour, what challenges did Nelson and his men face? How did the bloody Battle of Copenhagen in 1801 then unfold? And, what would be the consequences of this epic naval clash for Britain, Napoleon’s France, and Nelson himself? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss the First Battle of Copenhagen, in the next dramatic phase of Nelson’s triumphant, though very dangerous, career… ______ Start generating your own greener electricity for less, with £500 off Solar. Visit https://www.hivehome.com/history for more information. T&Cs apply**Output and savings varies by season, electricity usage and system size. Paid-for surplus requires an eligible SEG tariff. Offer for new customers only. Ends 17th November. Search Vanguard to find out more. When investing, your capital is at risk. Tax rules apply. _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editor: Jack Meek Social Producer: Harry Balden Assistant Producer: Aaliyah Akude Producer: Tabby Syrett Senior Producer: Theo Young-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From The Week in Westminster at 2025-10-18 11:00:00

18/10/2025 (p0m98rhn.mp3)

Financial Times political editor George Parker assesses the latest developments at Westminster.

Following the big political row over the China spying allegations, George speaks to Helena Kennedy, a Labour peer and human rights lawyer, and Peter Ricketts, former National Security Adviser and now a crossbench peer.

To discuss Rachel Reeves' options in next month's Budget, George is joined by Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, and Rupert Harrison, a former adviser to George Osborne and now a senior adviser at the wealth management company Pimco.

The Government's latest amendments to the Planning and Infrastructure Bill have attracted criticism from environmental groups. Labour MP Chris Curtis and Green MP Ellie Chowns debate the plans.

And, in the week that Margaret Thatcher would have turned 100, George speaks to the man that tried to replace her: Conservative grandee Michael Heseltine.

From More or Less: Behind the Stats at 2025-10-18 06:00:00

Nobel economics prize 2025: What's the big idea? (p0m97vlk.mp3)

Joel Mokyr, Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt have been awarded this year’s Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences.

The three are sharing 11 million Swedish kronor, over a million dollars, after being recognised for their work in the area of “innovation-driven economic growth”. But why does this area matter and what did the three economists actually do? We turn the tables on our presenter Tim Harford, to explain all.

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

Presenter: Lizzy McNeill Reporter: Tim Harford Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Donald MacDonald Editor: Richard Vadon

Image credit: Johan Jarnestad / The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

From GoodFellows: Conversations from the Hoover Institution at 2025-10-18 02:18:00

It’s The Economy, Israel and Tariffs, Stupid | GoodFellows | Hoover Institution (GoodFellows_2025-17-01_-_Russell_Berman_26toed.mp3)

A hostage return and the signing of a cease-fire agreement signal a new chapter in the long-running dream of peace in the Middle East. Did it matter that the key negotiators, on the US side, were financiers and real-estate developers rather than scions of America’s diplomatic corps? Russell Berman, a Hoover Institution senior fellow and codirector of Hoover’s Working Group on the Middle East and the Islamic World, joins GoodFellows regulars Niall Ferguson and John Cochrane to discuss the sturdiness of the Trump White House’s 20-point peace plan, the futures of Hamas and the Abraham Accords, the likelihood of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reliving Winston Churchill’s fate (a successful wartime leader rejected by a war-weary electorate), plus whether the “real estate-ism” approach to diplomacy is applicable to President Trump’s upcoming meetings with his Russian and Chinese counterparts. After that, Niall and John reflect on the likelihood of a market crash (it is October, after all), the chances of a full-fledged tariff war with China, the merits of a US-Argentina currency swap, plus an ominous warning from the International Monetary Fund regarding global debt. Finally, the fellows salute the legendary economist Thomas Sowell, the subject of a Hoover Institution tribute later this month.   Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2025-10-18 01:04:15

Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part V: Life In Cycles

This is the fifth and final part of our series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd, IVe) looking at the structures of life for pre-modern peasant farmers and showing how historical modeling can help us explore the experiences of people who rarely leave much evidence of their day-to-day personal lives. I’ve been stressing … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part V: Life In Cycles →

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-17 22:02:47

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Inks Philippines Fisherman

Good video.

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 The Incomparable Mothership at 2025-10-17 17:48:11

788: He's Just Bob (ff246d9d-e0b6-4040-9760-5b209225f909.mp3)

We’re back on the Marvel movies with “Thunderbolts*”, a film that (to our surprise?) is not a nihilistic story about villains pretending to be heroes (see: Suicide Squad), but instead a story about some troubled not-quite-heroes learning that they can be better if they connect to other people and work on their own issues. But also with explosions and fights and stuff....

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-17 12:03:53

A Surprising Amount of Satellite Traffic Is Unencrypted

Here’s the summary:

We pointed a commercial-off-the-shelf satellite dish at the sky and carried out the most comprehensive public study to date of geostationary satellite communication. A shockingly large amount of sensitive traffic is being broadcast unencrypted, including critical infrastructure, internal corporate and government communications, private citizens’ voice calls and SMS, and consumer Internet traffic from in-flight wifi and mobile networks. This data can be passively observed by anyone with a few hundred dollars of consumer-grade hardware. There are thousands of geostationary satellite transponders globally, and data from a single transponder may be visible from an area as large as 40% of the surface of the earth...

From School of War at 2025-10-17 10:30:00

Ep 240: Lance R. Blyth on Mountain Warfare (NEBM8069241565.mp3)

Lance R. Blyth, command historian at the North American Aerospace Defense Command and author of Ski, Climb, Fight: The 10th Mountain Division and the Rise of Mountain Warfare, joins the show to discuss the history and tactics of fighting at altitude.        ▪️ Times     •      01:31 Introduction     •      01:41 Marine     •      04:55 L.A. riots              •      07:22 From horses to skis     •      10:13 Antecedents              •      13:56 Advantage                 •      15:40 The Germans         •      17:55 The Winter War               •      22:51 French surrender     •      25:58 Specialized divisions     •      31:37 Volunteers      •      33:49 Training     •      36:50 Delay and Italy               •      42:16 No doctrine      •      45:29 The Gothic Line     •      52:00 Success     •      55:35 Afghanistan Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

From The Rest Is History at 2025-10-17 00:05:00

Alexander the Great, with Mary Beard (GLT3435890752.mp3?updated=1760627337)

No one was like him, terrible were his crimes… Where was Alexander the Great born, and who were his parents? What drove him to go beyond the Aegean empire he had already carved out for himself, and conquer lands beyond the limits of the Greek world? Why did Alexander eventually turn back, after ten years of conquest? And, how much of his legend is actually true?  In the second episode of this exclusive new series on four of the most iconic subjects from classical antiquity, Tom is joined again by the world renowned classicist, Mary Beard, to discuss one of history’s most famous men: Alexander the Great….hero or villain?  **To hear the full episode, and all the other exclusive new episodes from Mary and Tom's ancient history series, coming out every Friday for the next four weeks, join The Rest is History Club at ⁠therestishistory.com⁠** _______ Twitter:@TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editor: Jack Meek  Social Producer: Harry Balden Assistant Producer: Aaliyah Akude  Producer: Tabby Syrett Senior Producer: Theo Young-Smith Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-16 21:40:49

Nation-state hackers deliver malware from “bulletproof” blockchains

Malicious payloads stored on Ethereum and BNB blockchains are immune to takedowns.

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-16 21:25:08

Ars Live recap: Is the AI bubble about to pop? Ed Zitron weighs in.

Despite connection hiccups, we covered OpenAI's finances, nuclear power, and Sam Altman.

From The Briefing Room at 2025-10-16 16:07:00

Is the UK in a data crisis? (p0m904mw.mp3)

As Rachel Reeves approaches a tricky budget, her job has got that much harder. Some of our most fundamental economic data, statistics that policymakers are used to accepting at face value, suddenly have major question marks over their accuracy.

The UK’s top stats agency, the Office for National Statistics, finds itself under considerable pressure as falling response rates to its surveys leave politicians flying blind. David Aaronovitch asks what this means for government decisions and how the ONS can rebuild confidence in its most vital statistics.

Guests: Georgina Sturge, research affiliate at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford Professor Denise Lievesley, former Principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford Chris Giles, economics commentator at the Financial Times. Peter Lynn, Professor of Survey Methodology at the University of Essex

Presenter: David Aaronovitch Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Producers: Nathan Gower, Kirsteen Knight, Cordelia Hemming Studio engineer: Duncan Hannant Editor: Richard Vadon

From Net Assessment at 2025-10-16 12:59:00

Can Foreign Aid Be Reformed? Should It Be? (Net_Assessment_-_16_Oct_2025_v1.mp3?dest-id=808287)

Chris, Melanie, and Zack review Adam Tooze’s recent article on the failure of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – and Western-directed aid efforts generally. What should be the goals of foreign aid? Can development assistance, as it has recently been implemented, actually make a meaningful long-term difference in living standards? What might steep cuts in foreign aid mean for poor countries? In an era of great power competition, should we look at development assistance as a way to counter China’s influence? Grievances for the Trump administration’s policies toward China and its new deals with Qatar, and to the US Senate for failing to assert its authority over the war powers. Attas to President Trump for successfully brokering a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas, and for negotiating a new deal with Finland to build icebreakers.  

Links:

• Adam Tooze, “The End of Development,” Foreign Policy, September 8, 2025,

• Evan Cooper and Alessandro Perri, “Scenarios for US Foreign Aid in 2035,” Stimson Center, September 19, 2025

• Max Bearak and Lazaro Gamio, “The U.S. foreign aid budget, visualized,” Washington Post, October 18, 2016

• Rand Paul, “The Constitution Does Not Allow the President To Unilaterally Blow Suspected Drug Smugglers to Smithereens,” Reason, October 8, 2025

• Kathryn Watson, “Hegseth announces Qatar will build air force facility at U.S. base in Idaho,” CBS News, October 10, 2025

• “Putting the Global Order Back Together,” International Affairs Forum, Traverse City, MI, October 23, 2025

• Valentina Finckenstein, How International Aid Can Do More Harm than Good: The Case of Lebanon, LSE Ideas, February 2021.

• William Easterly, The White Man’s Burden: Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good, Penguin Books, 2007.

• “Aid Cannot Make Poor Countries Rich,” The Economist, March 6, 2025.

• Noah Robertson, Katie Tarrant, Ellen Nakashima, “Bipartisan Move to Restrict Trump’s War Powers Fails in Senate,” Washington Post, October 9, 2025.

• Steve Holland, Anne Kauranen, Jeff Mason, and Gram Slattery, “Trump and Finland’s Stuff Approve Deal for Icebreaker Ships,” Reuters, October 9, 2025.

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-16 12:06:51

Cryptocurrency ATMs

CNN has a great piece about how cryptocurrency ATMs are used to scam people out of their money. The fees are usurious, and they’re a common place for scammers to send victims to buy cryptocurrency for them. The companies behind the ATMs, at best, do not care about the harm they cause; the profits are just too good.

From Strong Message Here at 2025-10-16 09:45:00

The End of the Age of Terror and Death (with Stewart Lee) (p0m8s9pp.mp3)

One one hand, the world is going to hell, on the other, the age of terror and death has ended, so which is it? Stewart Lee joins Armando to take a look at this maximal approach to political language.

How do you do moderate politics with caps lock on? What's the smart way to diffuse complex arguments about politics? And given the details still to be worked out in the Isreal Gaza peace process, is this week's Peace Summit Trump's 'Mission Accomplished' moment?

Have a message for Armando? Drop us a line on strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk

Listen to Strong Message Here at 09:45 on Thursday mornings on Radio 4, or the extended version on BBC Sounds.

Production Coordinator: Jodie Charman Executive Producer: James Robinson Sound Editing: Chris MacLean Recorded at The Sound Company

Strong Message Here is produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies, and is a BBC Studios production for Radio 4.

From The Rest Is History at 2025-10-16 00:05:00

609. Nelson: The Gathering Storm (Part 2) (GLT8067718474.mp3?updated=1760546366)

After two years at sea, what happened when Horatio Nelson - now Britain’s most celebrated naval commander - finally returned home, to his wife and father? Following his involvement in the poisonous politics of Naples, his terrible treatment of the Jacobite rebels, and starting an affair with the notorious Lady Emma Hamilton, how was Nelson received? And, with the storm clouds of war gathering above the Baltic, in what heroic way would Nelson next be called to serve his country? Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Nelson’s controversial return to Britain, his relationship with Emma Hamilton, and the road to the legendary Battle of Copenhagen… _______ Start generating your own greener electricity for less, with £500 off Solar. Visit https://www.hivehome.com/history for more information. T&Cs apply* *Output and savings varies by season, electricity usage and system size. Paid-for surplus requires an eligible SEG tariff. Offer for new customers only. Ends 17th November. Search Vanguard to find out more. When investing, your capital is at risk. Tax rules apply. _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editor: Jack Meek Social Producer: Harry Balden Assistant Producer: Aaliyah Akude Producer: Tabby Syrett Senior Producer: Theo Young-Smith Exec Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-15 21:05:39

Thousands of customers imperiled after nation-state ransacks F5’s network

Risks to BIG-IP users include supply-chain attacks, credential loss, and vulnerability exploits.

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-15 19:53:00

Anthropic’s Claude Haiku 4.5 matches May’s frontier model at fraction of cost

Tiny, fast model hits coding scores similar to GPT-5 and Sonnet 4.

From The Media Show at 2025-10-15 18:22:00

Reporting the Gaza ceasefire, Bari Weiss profile, Today in Parliament (p0m8sdkg.mp3)

Channel 4’s Krishnan Guru-Murthy and The Independent’s Bel Trew join us to discuss their reporting on the Gaza ceasefire. Professor Lee Edwards from the LSE analyses how the media has been framing recent events. Also on the programme, who is the new editor-in-chief of CBS News? Semafor’s Max Tani profiles Bari Weiss. Plus, the BBC’s Susan Hulme reflects on the future of Today in Parliament as it celebrates its 80th anniversary.

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-15 16:14:52

ChatGPT erotica coming soon with age verification, CEO says

Sam Altman claims new tools can detect mental distress while relaxing limits for adults.

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-15 12:02:18

Apple’s Bug Bounty Program

Apple is now offering a $2M bounty for a zero-click exploit. According to the Apple website:

Today we’re announcing the next major chapter for Apple Security Bounty, featuring the industry’s highest rewards, expanded research categories, and a flag system for researchers to objectively demonstrate vulnerabilities and obtain accelerated awards.

1. We’re doubling our top award to $2 million for exploit chains that can achieve similar goals as sophisticated mercenary spyware attacks. This is an unprecedented amount in the industry and the largest payout offered by any bounty program we’re aware of ­ and our bonus system, providing additional rewards for Lockdown Mode bypasses and vulnerabilities discovered in beta software, can more than double this reward, with a maximum payout in excess of $5 million. We’re also doubling or significantly increasing rewards in many other categories to encourage more intensive research. This includes $100,000 for a complete Gatekeeper bypass, and $1 million for broad unauthorized iCloud access, as no successful exploit has been demonstrated to date in either category. ...

From More or Less: Behind the Stats at 2025-10-15 09:30:00

Are millions of people getting Motability cars for anxiety and ADHD? (p0m8l2x5.mp3)

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:

The Conservative party conference has been told that millions of people are getting free cars from the government because they have ADHD and anxiety. Is that right?

The chair of the Labour party says that only 3% of farmers will be affected by proposed changes to inheritance tax. Is that true?

The charity Movember claim that two in five men die too young. What does that really mean?

And Tim’s mid-life crisis has manifested itself in a marathon run. We ask a scientist if data can help him finish faster.

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

Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter: Nathan Gower Producer: Lizzy McNeill Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound mix: Gareth Jones Editor: Richard Vadon

From The Last Best Hope? at 2025-10-15 06:00:00

Journalism and Democracy: Lessons from Walter Lippmann (media.mp3)

A hundred years ago, Walter Lippmann, one of the great analysts of democratic life, wrote that the present crisis of western democracy is a crisis in journalism. Press barons, Lippmann feared, were so powerful that government based on the consent of the governed was under threat if unregulated media owners could manufacture consent. If the facts were not being made available to the public, how could the public make proper democratic choices? Today, those words ring as true as they ever did. In place of press barons like William Randolph Hearst are corporations that curry favour with an administration that has no compunction about making regulatory decisions based on who the President thinks are his friends. TV networks remove comedians who offend the President for fear of retribution. Jeff Bezos, the Amazon billionaire owner of the Washington Post, a newspaper that for a while adopted the slogan “democracy dies in darkness”, prevented the Post from endorsing Kamala Harris and subsequently announced that the opinions page would henceforth only carry pieces that supported free markets and personal liberties. And in an age when most people get their news in two-second bites from social media, how can the governed give meaningful consent?

These are of course age-old questions about democracy: what does government of the people, by the people look like? How do we have a functioning democracy if we agree on a common set of facts – and how can journalists do their work if people don’t believe they’re pursuing the truth?

Each generation wrestles with these kinds of questions in new ways, not least in the face of new media technology—whether the spread of the millionaire-owned popular press in the early twentieth century, the rise of radio or cable TV or the internet.

In this episode, we draw on Walter Lippmann’s 20th-century warnings about the vulnerability of democracy to propaganda, misinformation, and public disengagement, to assess the challenges facing journalism in 2025.

Adam Smith speaks to Marty Baron, former Washington Post executive editor between 2013 and 2021 and to Dr Tom Arnold Forster, author of Walter Lippmann: An Intellectual Biography, published by Princeton University Press.

The Last Best Hope? is a podcast of the Rothermere American Institute at the University of Oxford. For details of our programming go to rai.ox.ac.uk

Producer: Emily Williams. Presenter: Adam Smith

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

From Quite right! at 2025-10-15 00:01:00

Lab leaks & spy scandals: was Cameron wrong about China? (media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=lZ1qXs34_o-cHOZNYVKdU2wTKfi6JZIcGfa_xsqIGds)

This week on Quite right! Michael and Maddie turn their sights to Westminster’s latest espionage scandal – and the collapse of the case to prosecute two men accused of spying for China. Was the case dropped out of incompetence, or out of fear of offending Beijing? As Michael puts it, ‘Either we’re not being told the truth, or this is a government of staggering incompetence.’

They also unpick the growing row over Jonathan Powell, Keir Starmer’s National Security Adviser, and his alleged role in shelving the case. What does his re-emergence, along with Peter Mandelson and other ‘Sith Lords of Blairism’, tell us about the return of New Labour’s old moral compromises?

Elsewhere, Donald Trump’s surprise Gaza peace deal has upended diplomatic expectations and ushered in a new style of negotiation – the ‘Manhattan real estate’ approach – which has succeeded where the UN’s moralising failed. Is it Trump’s world and we’re all living in it?

Finally: The Traitors. Maddie confesses she’s never watched an episode, but would Michael be a traitor or a faithful? What does the show reveal about the darker truths of human nature? And which politicians would make the perfect traitors?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson.

Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.

For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.

Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk

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

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-14 22:01:50

Feds seize $15 billion from alleged forced labor scam built on “human suffering”

Scams like this one net billions from well-educated victims.

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-14 17:58:21

Nvidia sells tiny new computer that puts big AI on your desktop

The 1 petaflop DGX Spark system runs AI models with 200 billion parameters locally for $4K.

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-14 17:01:11

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

This is a current list of where and when I am scheduled to speak:

• I and Nathan E. Sanders will be giving a book talk on Rewiring Democracy at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Ash Center in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, on October 22, 2025 at noon ET.
• I and Nathan E. Sanders will be speaking and signing books at the Cambridge Public Library in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA, on October 22, 2025 at 6:00 PM ET. The event is sponsored by Harvard Bookstore.
• I and Nathan E. Sanders will give a virtual talk about our book Rewiring Democracy on October 23, 2025 at 1:00 PM ET. The event is hosted by Data & Society...

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-14 14:51:00

OpenAI wants to stop ChatGPT from validating users’ political views

New paper reveals reducing "bias" means making ChatGPT stop mirroring users' political language.

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-14 12:09:54

The Trump Administration’s Increased Use of Social Media Surveillance

This chilling paragraph is in a comprehensive Brookings report about the use of tech to deport people from the US:

The administration has also adapted its methods of social media surveillance. Though agencies like the State Department have gathered millions of handles and monitored political discussions online, the Trump administration has been more explicit in who it’s targeting. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced a new, zero-tolerance “Catch and Revoke” strategy, which uses AI to monitor the public speech of foreign nationals and revoke visas...

From School of War at 2025-10-14 10:30:00

Ep 239: Charles C. Mann on How the System Works (NEBM6741620581.mp3)

Charles C. Mann, author of “How the System Works” in The New Atlantis, joins the show to discuss the complexity and vulnerability of the hidden processes that sustain human life on our planet.       ▪️ Times     •      01:49 Introduction     •      02:31 Interconnected      •      05:43 Medical care              •      09:20 Feeding humanity     •      11:56 Three advances             •      20:42 Water                •      26:34 Energy          •      36:05 Keeping pace                •      38:35 Hurdles      •      41:12 Solutions                •      45:26 Public health          •      56:38 Concerns             Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-13 22:36:35

No fix yet for attack that lets hackers pluck 2FA codes from Android phones

Malicious app required to make "Pixnapping" attack work requires no permissions.

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-13 17:36:38

Rewiring Democracy is Coming Soon

My latest book, Rewiring Democracy: How AI Will Transform Our Politics, Government, and Citizenship, will be published in just over a week. No reviews yet, but can read chapters 12 and <a href=https://newpublic.substack.com/p/2ddffc17-a033-4f98-83fa-11376b30c6cd”>34 (of 43 chapters total).

You can order the book pretty much everywhere, and a copy signed by me <a href=”https://www.schneier.com/product/rewiring-democracy-hardcover/’>here.

Please help spread the word. I want this book to make a splash when it’s public. Leave a review on whatever site you buy it from. Or make a TikTok video. Or do whatever you kids do these days. Is anyone a SlashDot contributor? I’d like the book to be announced there...

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-13 17:15:53

Why Signal’s post-quantum makeover is an amazing engineering achievement

New design sets a high standard for post-quantum readiness.

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-13 12:04:31

AI and the Future of American Politics

Two years ago, Americans anxious about the forthcoming 2024 presidential election were considering the malevolent force of an election influencer: artificial intelligence. Over the past several years, we have seen plenty of warning signs from elections worldwide demonstrating how AI can be used to propagate misinformation and alter the political landscape, whether by trolls on social media, foreign influencers, or even a street magician. AI is poised to play a more volatile role than ever before in America’s next federal election in 2026. We can already see how different groups of political actors are approaching AI. Professional campaigners are using AI to accelerate the traditional tactics of electioneering; organizers are using it to reinvent how movements are built; and citizens are using it both to express themselves and amplify their side’s messaging. Because there are so few rules, and so little prospect of regulatory action, around AI’s role in politics, there is no oversight of these activities, and no safeguards against the dramatic potential impacts for our democracy...

From The Last Best Hope? at 2025-10-13 07:05:00

The Last Best Hope: Series 14 (media.mp3)

It's been almost a year since The Last Best Hope aired, and in that time, America has changed dramatically. So in the new series, we’ll be attempting to put Trump’s foreign policy in a historical context, we’ll be discussing the enduring myth of the frontier, and asking how history will judge Joe Biden. And in a special two-part documentary, we’ll return to Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, delivered in 1863 in the midst of the Civil War, and ask what significance it still has at another moment of national crisis.

“Adam Smith is one of the UK’s foremost historians of America, and communicates his expertise with zest, wit and unforced passion. The Last Best Hope? brings him together with fellow scholars to provide a unique insight we can’t do without.”

Phil Tinline, BBC radio documentary-maker and author

"The Last Best Hope is an absolutely brilliant podcast. Thoughtful, clever, engaging and accessible, Adam Smith always gets the best out of his guests, and I’ve learned an enormous amount from every episode. I love it."

Dominic Sandbrook, Historian and co-host of The Rest is History

“The must-listen US podcast”

Nick Bryant, former BBC Correspondent in New York

The Last Best Hope is a podcast produced by the Rothermere American Institute at Oxford University. The presenter is Adam Smith, Orsborn Professor of US Politics and Political History, and the Producer is Emily Williams.

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

From The Rest Is History at 2025-10-13 00:05:00

608. Nelson: Slaughter in Naples (Part 1) (GLT8594694484.mp3?updated=1760304813)

What happened when the heroic Horatio Nelson, victor of the Battle of the Nile, sailed into the seething city of Naples? Why would his meeting with the glamorous celebrity, Lady Emma Hamilton, shape the rest of his life? And, why would his decision to lend his support to the foolhardy Neapolitan campaign to “liberate all of Italy” from the formidable French, prove to be one of the most controversial episodes of Nelson’s career? Join Dominic and Tom as they voyage deeper into the life of Nelson, and the incident that nearly destroyed his reputation forever…. Start generating your own greener electricity for less, with £500 off Solar. Visit https://www.hivehome.com/history for more information. T&Cs apply**Output and savings varies by season, electricity usage and system size. Paid-for surplus requires an eligible SEG tariff. Offer for new customers only. Ends 17th November. 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 For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editor: Harry Swan Social Producer: Harry Baldwin Assistant Producer: Aaliyah Akude  Producer: Tabby Syrett Senior Producer: Theo Young-Smith Exec Producer: Dom Johnson  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From The Django weblog at 2025-10-11 09:31:47

2026 DSF Board Nominations

Nominations are open for the elections of the 2026 Django Software Foundation Board of Directors. The Board guides the direction of the marketing, governance and outreach activities of the Django community. We provide funding, resources, and guidance to Django events on a global level.

The Board of Directors consists of seven volunteers who are elected to two-year terms. This is an excellent opportunity to help advance Django. We can’t do it without volunteers, such as yourself. Anyone including current Board members, DSF Members, or the public at large can apply to the Board. It is open to all.

How to apply

If you are interested in helping to support the development of Django we’d enjoy receiving your application for the Board of Directors. Please fill out the 2026 DSF Board Nomination form by 23:59 on October 31, 2025 Anywhere on Earth to be considered.

Submit your nomination for the 2026 Board

If you have any questions about applying, the work, or the process in general please don’t hesitate to reach out on the Django forum or via email to foundation@djangoproject.com.

Thank you for your time, and we look forward to working with you in 2026!

The 2025 DSF Board of Directors.

From More or Less: Behind the Stats at 2025-10-11 06:00:00

Are 72% of prison inmates in Switzerland foreign? (p0m7xwfj.mp3)

In a recent speech to the UN, US president Donald Trump set out some remarkable figures on the proportion of inmates in European prisons who were foreign nationals.

Citing statistics from the Council of Europe, he references Greece, Germany and Austria, as having rates around 50%.

“In Switzerland, beautiful Switzerland,” he said “72% of the people in prisons are from outside of Switzerland.” These numbers are correct, but why are the percentages so high – particularly in Switzerland?

Tim Harford speaks to Professor Marcelo Aebi, a criminologist from the University of Lausanne, who wrote the prisons report for the Council of Europe.

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

Presenter: Tim Harford Producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Rod Farquhar Editor: Richard Vadon

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-10 22:02:32

Friday Squid Blogging: Sperm Whale Eating a Giant Squid

Video.

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 A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2025-10-10 21:48:04

Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IVe: The No-Rest Of It

This is the fifth dish of the fourth course of our series (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IVa, IVb, IVc, IVd) looking at the lives of pre-modern peasant farmers, who made up a majority of all of the humans who have ever lived. We are trying to grapple here with what has thus been the most … Continue reading Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IVe: The No-Rest Of It →

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-10 19:07:04

Microsoft warns of new “Payroll Pirate” scam stealing employees’ direct deposits

Among other things, the scammers bypass multi-factor authentication.

From The Incomparable Mothership at 2025-10-10 17:30:00

787: Injured in the Jaguar Attack (c2117ffd-f08c-43b7-972d-c0aeef7e888b.mp3)

It’s autumn, things are turning dark and gray, and that puts us in the mind of… (fictional) murder! Want a mystery novel, or series, to read? Our expert readers have many, many suggestions for you....

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-10 12:06:53

Autonomous AI Hacking and the Future of Cybersecurity

AI agents are now hacking computers. They’re getting better at all phases of cyberattacks, faster than most of us expected. They can chain together different aspects of a cyber operation, and hack autonomously, at computer speeds and scale. This is going to change everything.

Over the summer, hackers proved the concept, industry institutionalized it, and criminals operationalized it. In June, AI company XBOW took the top spot on HackerOne’s US leaderboard after submitting over 1,000 new vulnerabilities in just a few months. In August, the seven teams competing in DARPA’s AI Cyber Challenge ...

From School of War at 2025-10-10 10:30:00

Ep 238: James Titterton on Medieval Deception (NEBM9327215840.mp3)

James Titterton, historian and author of Deception in Medieval Warfare: Trickery and Cunning in the Central Middle Ages, joins the show to discuss strategies and stratagems in the age of castles and knights.       ▪️ Times     •      01:29 Introduction     •      02:18 High Middle Ages     •      09:03 Oathbreakers              •      12:01 Sources     •      16:21 Doctrine             •      22:07 Bribery                •      31:23 Spies and feints         •      39:26 Plausibility                •      42:19 Professionals  Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

From The Django weblog at 2025-10-10 08:46:39

2025 Malcolm Tredinnick Memorial Prize awarded to Tim Schilling

We are pleased to announce that the 2025 Malcolm Tredinnick Memorial Prize has been awarded to Tim Schilling!

Tim embodies the values that define the Django community: generosity, respect, thoughtfulness, and a deep commitment to supporting others. He is a tireless community leader who creates spaces where newcomers thrive ❤️ exactly in the spirit of our prize and Malcolm Tredinnick’s work.

About Tim

As a co-founder of Djangonaut Space, Tim has encouraged countless people to take their first steps as contributors. With the overall program but also specific initiatives like co-writing sessions, Space Reviewers, Cosmic Contributors. Many community members trace their involvement in Django back to Tim’s encouragement and support.

Beyond Djangonaut Space, Tim serves on the Django Steering Council, is one of the founders of Django Commons, and is an active member of DEFNA, supporting DjangoCon US. He is known for thoughtful feedback, amplifying others’ work, and encouraging people to step forward for leadership roles.

Quotes

Here is some of what people said about Tim’s involvement with the community:

Tim exemplifies all the values the Django community is known for. He is incredibly supportive of newcomers, respectful, and generous. Always ready to give constructive feedback and lend a hand where needed, be it through a pull review or the many Django-related forums he participates in, Tim is a natural leader, someone that the community looks up to.

– Felipe Villegas

Every time he spots a chance to help, he doesn't need to think twice. He's a welcoming person not only with newcomers, as in Djangonaut Space, but also with maintainers through Django Commons. Tim is also very creative, finding different ways to contribute. For example, inside the Djangonaut Space community, the "Space Reviewers" team was formed to host a live stream to help people become reviewers by sharing the process and also actually reviewing a ticket that needs some attention. The Django community is much more than blessed to have Tim, who exemplifies dedication, respect, and support for others.

– Raffaella

Tim just has this way of making sure newcomers feel welcome and get the support they need. He doesn't just talk about community building - he actually does the work to make it happen.

– Abe Hanoka

Tim is a thoughtful and caring community leader. He engages with newcomers in a warm and welcoming manner. In his roles as the admin for Djangonaut Space, the admin of Django Commons, and a member of the Steering Council, he strategically identifies the gaps in the community, collaborates with other members to develop an action plan, and follows through with the execution. He's doing some of the hardest work out there. Not only is Tim nurturing newcomers, he's also growing the community by bridging the gap between newcomers and experienced open source contributors. Tim's actions speak louder than words.

– Lilian

Other nominees

Other nominations for this year included:

• Adam Hill and Sangeeta Jadoonanan
• Anna Makarudze
• Baptiste Mispelon
• Bhuvnesh Sharma
• Carlton Gibson
• David Smith
• Ester Beltrami
• Jake Howard
• Lilian
• Mike Edmunds
• Mike Edwards
• Noah Maina
• Raymond Penners
• Simon Charette
• Will Vincent

Malcolm would be very proud of the legacy he has fostered in our community. Each year we receive many nominations, and it is always hard to pick the winner. If your nominee didn’t make it this year, you can always nominate them again next year!

Congratulations Tim on the well-deserved honor!

From The Rest Is History at 2025-10-10 00:05:00

The Trojan War, with Mary Beard (GLT9220899913.mp3?updated=1760024045)

Did the Trojan War - the ten year, cosmic clash between the Greeks and the Trojans, featuring the Olympian gods, kings and heroes - actually happen? Is there any evidence for the existence of the Trojan Horse? And, why is it the war the foundational myth of both ancient Greece and ancient Rome? To launch a brand new bonus series, Tom is joined by the world famous classicist, Mary Beard, to discuss four of classical antiquity’s most iconic subjects. Today: the Trojan War…. **To hear the full episode, and all the other exclusive new episodes from Mary and Tom's ancient history series, coming out every Friday for the next four weeks, join The Rest is History Club at therestishistory.com** FUTURE EPISODES....Oct 17th: ALEXANDER THE GREATOct 24th: JULIUS CAESAROct 31st: GLADIATORS & SPARTACUS_______Twitter:@TheRestHistory@holland_tom@dcsandbrookVideo Editor: Jack MeekSocial Producer: Harry BaldenAssistant Producer: Aaliyah AkudeProducer: Tabby SyrettSenior Producer: Theo Young-SmithExec Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-09 23:03:21

AI models can acquire backdoors from surprisingly few malicious documents

Anthropic study suggests "poison" training attacks don't scale with model size.

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-09 19:24:13

Discord says hackers stole government IDs of 70,000 users

As more sites require IDs for user age verification, expect more such breaches to come.

From The Briefing Room at 2025-10-09 16:29:00

Will the Gaza peace plan work? (p0m7pl2m.mp3)

There have been in celebrations in Israel and Gaza at the announcement of a ceasefire and the beginning of a longer term plan for peace and reconstruction in Gaza. There have been ceasefires and hostage releases before, but then the death and destruction has resumed, so why is so much more hope being invested in the current plan? And what’s actually in it?

Guests: Rushdi Abu-a-loaf, BBC Gaza Correspondent Sir Lawrence Freedman, Emeritus Professor of War Studies, King's College London David Makovsky, Director of the Program on Arab-Israel Relations at the Washington Institute of Near East Policy Dr Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa Programme at Chatham House.

Presenter: David Aaronovitch Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Producers: Charlotte McDonald, Kirsteen Knight, Cordelia Hemming Studio engineer: Dave O’Neill Editor: Richard Vadon

From Strong Message Here at 2025-10-09 09:45:00

Repetition, Repetition, Repetition (with Natalie Haynes) (p0m7g554.mp3)

Did you know Keir Starmer's dad was a toolmaker? Of course you did, because he repeated it every time he was in front a microphone for years.

Armando is joined by Natalie Haynes to discuss the use of repetition. How it can be an effective rhetorical technique for the likes of Cicero and Tony Blair, but grates when coming from others? We also look at the language of the recent Tory Party conference, political chocolate bars, and have a debate about the 'debate' politicians often say we need.

Have a strong message for Armando? Drop us a line on strongmessagehere@bbc.co.uk

Executive producer - James Robinson Production Coordinator - Jodie Charman Sound editing - Chris Maclean

Produced by Gwyn Rhys Davies. A BBC Studios production for Radio 4.

From The History Book Buffs at 2025-10-09 01:33:00

The horrors of U-boat warfare: the books that inspired Wolfpack by Roger Moorhouse. (https%3A%2F%2Fd3ctxlq1ktw2nl.cloudfront.net%2Fstaging%2F2025-9-8%2F408901421-44100-2-206566b5b0055.mp3)

KeywordsU-Boat War, Wolfpack, Das Boot, WWII, German perspective, naval history, PTSD, memoirs, historical narrative, empathySummaryIn this conversation, Antonia Senior and Roger Moorhouse dive into the complexities of the U-Boat War during World War II, discussing the launch of the book 'Wolfpack' and its influences. They explore the historical narratives surrounding German soldiers, the psychological impacts of U-Boat warfare, and the importance of empathy in understanding the experiences of those involved. The discussion also highlights the conditions faced by U-Boat crews and the significance of memoirs and accounts in shaping our understanding of this dark chapter in history.The books that inspired Wolfpack include Das Boot, by Lothar-Günther Buchheim; U-Boat Commander, Peter Erich-Kremer; Iron Coffins, Herbert Werner. TakeawaysThe U-Boat War is a complex and often overlooked aspect of WWII.'Wolfpack' aims to provide a German perspective on the U-Boat experience.'Das Boot' serves as a significant cultural reference for understanding U-Boat life.Writing about German soldiers requires a nuanced approach to avoid glorification.Empathy is crucial in recounting the experiences of U-Boat crews.The psychological toll of U-Boat warfare was immense, with many suffering from PTSD.Conditions aboard U-Boats were horrific, leading to severe health issues.Memoirs provide valuable insights into the personal experiences of U-Boat crews.The average age of U-Boat casualties was alarmingly young, highlighting the tragedy of war.Understanding the U-Boat War is essential for a complete narrative of the Battle of the Atlantic.TitlesDiving Deep into the U-Boat WarUnveiling 'Wolfpack': A New PerspectiveSound bites"It's a very exciting day today.""What if we flip that 180 degrees?""It's a pretty horrific experience."Chapters00:00 Introduction to the U-Boat War and Book Launch02:31 The Genesis of 'Wolfpack' and Influential Works05:21 Exploring 'Das Boot' and Its Impact08:11 The Complexity of Writing About German Soldiers11:29 Humanizing the U-Boat Experience14:18 The Horrors of U-Boat Warfare17:33 Mental Health and Combat Stress in U-Boat Crews20:19 Memoirs and Accounts of U-Boat Life23:10 Conditions and Challenges Faced by U-Boat Crews26:01 The Role of Empathy in Historical Narratives29:11 The U-Boat War's Human Cost32:05 Conclusion and Reflections on the U-Boat Experience

From The Rest Is History at 2025-10-09 00:05:00

607. Nelson’s Lover: The Scandalous Lady Hamilton (GLT1577197938.mp3?updated=1759929968)

Who was Emma Hamilton, Horatio Nelson’s strikingly beautiful, and famously fashionable mistress? How did she raise herself up from dire poverty, to become a model, actress, dancer, and even an international celebrity? And, why was theirs one of the most famous love affairs of all time? Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss one of history's most remarkable woman - Lady Emma Hamilton - and explore her celebrated relationship with one of Britain's greatest, and most tragic heroes.  Start generating your own greener electricity for less, with £500 off Solar. Visit https://www.hivehome.com/history for more information. T&Cs apply* *Output and savings varies by season, electricity usage and system size. Paid-for surplus requires an eligible SEG tariff. Offer for new customers only. Ends 17th November. Learn more at https://uber.com/onourway _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Video Editor: Jack Meek Social Producer: Harry Baldwin Assistant Producer: Aaliyah Akude Producer: Tabby Syrett Senior Producer: Theo Young-Smith Exec Producer: Dom Johnson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-08 22:18:30

Bank of England warns AI stock bubble rivals 2000 dotcom peak

Central bank says market concentration hasn't been this extreme in 50 years.

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-08 21:02:46

Salesforce says it won’t pay extortion demand in 1 billion records breach

Scattered LAPSUS$ Hunters gave Salesforce until Friday to pay or else.

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-08 17:49:27

Synology caves, walks back some drive restrictions on upcoming NAS models

Policy change affects at least 2025 model Plus, Value, and J-series DiskStations.

From The Media Show at 2025-10-08 17:23:00

Steve Rosenberg, Zanny Minton Beddoes, new Victoria Beckham documentary and the ethics of secret filming (p0m7g44s.mp3)

Katie Razall on some of the week's biggest media stories: BBC Russia Editor, Steve Rosenberg, on winning the Charles Wheeler Award for outstanding contribution to broadcast journalism. Zanny Minton Beddoes, Editor in Chief of the Economist on their new video podcast Insider which launches this week. What are the editorial and ethical issues around secret filming as seen in the recent Panorama documentary Undercover In The Police? And as a new three part Victoria Beckham documentary drops on Netflix we consider the rise of the self produced celebrity documentary.

Producer: Lucy Wai Assistant Producer: Elena Angelides

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-08 17:10:58

Flok License Plate Surveillance

The company Flok is surveilling us as we drive:

A retired veteran named Lee Schmidt wanted to know how often Norfolk, Virginia’s 176 Flock Safety automated license-plate-reader cameras were tracking him. The answer, according to a U.S. District Court lawsuit filed in September, was more than four times a day, or 526 times from mid-February to early July. No, there’s no warrant out for Schmidt’s arrest, nor is there a warrant for Schmidt’s co-plaintiff, Crystal Arrington, whom the system tagged 849 times in roughly the same period.

You might think this sounds like it violates the Fourth Amendment, which protects American citizens from unreasonable searches and seizures without probable cause. Well, so does the American Civil Liberties Union. Norfolk, Virginia Judge Jamilah LeCruise also agrees, and in 2024 she ruled that plate-reader data obtained without a search warrant couldn’t be used against a defendant in a robbery case...

From More or Less: Behind the Stats at 2025-10-08 09:30:00

Does half the UK get more in benefits than they pay in tax? (p0m7860n.mp3)

Tim Harford investigates some of the numbers in the news. This week:

The Daily Mail says that over half of the UK population live in households that get more in benefits than they pay in tax - is it true?

Do some billionaires earn more in a night than the population of Bournemouth earns in a year? New Green leader Zack Polanski seems to think so - we scrutinise the figures.

Are older generations getting smarter?

Have 77% of Gen-Z brought a parent along to a job interview? Really?

If you’ve seen a number you think we should take a look at, email the team: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Tim Harford Reporter: Lizzy McNeill Producer: Nathan Gower Series producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Maria Ogundele Sound mix: Duncan Hannant Editor: Richard Vadon

From Quite right! at 2025-10-08 00:01:00

Was that Kemi Badenoch's last conference? Quite right! live from Manchester (media.mp3?tk=eyJ0ayI6ImRlZmF1bHQiLCJhZHMiOnRydWUsInNwb25zIjp0cnVlLCJzdGF0dXMiOiJwdWJsaWMifQ==&sig=3IDzwxjogbPnaV6UqB9kWWdp7RLnmCLqnZ-4pWQ_Sl8)

This week, Michael and Maddie record Quite right! in front of a live audience at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester – with attendance down, the big question is whether Kemi Badenoch can survive as leader of the opposition. There is the unmistakable air of fatalism among MPs staring down electoral annihilation – but would another change in leadership cement the Tories as pathologically regicidal?

They also debate Badenoch’s bold pledge to bar candidates who won’t back leaving the European Convention on Human Rights – a ‘calculated risk’ that could redefine the party’s identity or too little too late?

Then, in the wake of the horrific Manchester synagogue attack, they turn to the rise of anti-Semitism and the crisis of policing. Are Britain’s streets really being governed by ‘two-tier justice’? And what does it say about public order – and public confidence – that Jewish Britons are being told to stay indoors for their own safety?

Finally, they dissect the Church of England’s choice of Sarah Mullally as the new Archbishop of Canterbury. Is she an inspired appointment, or proof that the Church has become, as Michael puts it, ‘another bureaucratic manifestation of generalised niceness’?

Produced by Oscar Edmondson

Become a Spectator subscriber today to access this podcast without adverts. Go to spectator.co.uk/adfree to find out more.

For more Spectator podcasts, go to spectator.co.uk/podcasts.

Contact us: podcast@spectator.co.uk

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

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-07 12:04:23

AI-Enabled Influence Operation Against Iran

Citizen Lab has uncovered a coordinated AI-enabled influence operation against the Iranian government, probably conducted by Israel.

Key Findings

• A coordinated network of more than 50 inauthentic X profiles is conducting an AI-enabled influence operation. The network, which we refer to as “PRISONBREAK,” is spreading narratives inciting Iranian audiences to revolt against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
• While the network was created in 2023, almost all of its activity was conducted starting in January 2025, and continues to the present day.
• The profiles’ activity appears to have been synchronized, at least in part, with the military campaign that the Israel Defense Forces conducted against Iranian targets in June 2025. ...

From School of War at 2025-10-07 10:30:00

Ep 237: Toshi Yoshihara on China’s Subversive Strategies (NEBM6270282605.mp3)

Toshi Yoshihara, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments and author of Mao's Army Goes to Sea: The Island Campaigns and the Founding of China's Navy, joins the show to discuss how the PLA took Beijing in 1949 by subversion, and how they may yet seize Taiwan.       ▪️ Times     •      01:53 Introduction     •      03:24 Peaceful liberation     •      07:19 Planning and preparation              •      10:36 Isolation     •      17:30 A tradition of manipulation             •      23:51 True believers                •      28:23 Helpless         •      34:55 Political warfare               •      41:53 Surprise     •      47:32 Holy Grail     •      50:51 Fault lines     •      57:44 What to read? Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-06 15:45:28

AMD wins massive AI chip deal from OpenAI with stock sweetener

ChatGPT maker will be allowed to buy 10% of AMD for a penny per share.

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-06 12:06:22

AI in the 2026 Midterm Elections

We are nearly one year out from the 2026 midterm elections, and it’s far too early to predict the outcomes. But it’s a safe bet that artificial intelligence technologies will once again be a major storyline.

The widespread fear that AI would be used to manipulate the 2024 U.S. election seems rather quaint in a year where the president posts AI-generated images of himself as the pope on official White House accounts. But AI is a lot more than an information manipulator. It’s also emerging as a politicized issue. Political first-movers are adopting the technology, and that’s opening a ...

From The Rest Is History at 2025-10-06 00:05:00

606. Enoch Powell: Rivers of Blood (GLT7520958596.mp3?updated=1759510185)

Who was Enoch Powell, the deeply controversial British conservative politician? Why is he the father of Brexit, and possibly even Reform? And, how did he come to make his inflammatory ‘Rivers of Blood speech’, in 1968?    Join Dominic and Tom as they discuss Enoch Powell - one of the most incendiary and contentious figures in all of British political history - and his enduring shadow today. Start generating your own greener electricity for less, with £500 off Solar. Visit https://www.hivehome.com/history for more information. T&Cs apply* *Output and savings varies by season, electricity usage and system size. Paid-for surplus requires an eligible SEG tariff. Offer for new customers only. Ends 17th November. Learn more at https://www.uber.com/onourway 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 For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Senior Producer: Theo Young-Smith Producer: Tabby Syrett Assistant Producer: Aaliyah Akude  Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-04 14:21:55

ICE wants to build a 24/7 social media surveillance team

ICE plans to hire contractors to scan platforms to target people for deportation.

From More or Less: Behind the Stats at 2025-10-04 06:00:00

Is the world getting less miserable? (p0m6jgb5.mp3)

When you follow the news, particularly in countries like the UK and the US, it sometimes feels like people are less optimistic about their lives than they were in the past. But a new piece of analysis from polling company Gallup suggests this might just be the local view, not the global one. Using data from the Gallup World Poll, it suggests that “people in more countries are living better lives and expressing more hope for the future” than at any point in the last decade.

Tim Harford speaks to Gallup’s Benedict Vigers, who wrote the report, to understand what improvements in the “global median for thriving” really means. If you’ve seen a number in the news you think we should look at, email the team: moreorless@bbc.co.uk

Presenter: Tim Harford Series producer: Tom Colls Sound mix: Bob Nettles Editor: Richard Vadon

From Schneier on Security at 2025-10-03 22:05:28

Friday Squid Blogging: Squid Overfishing in the Southwest Atlantic

Article. Report.

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-03 18:49:26

Ars Live: Is the AI bubble about to pop? A live chat with Ed Zitron.

Join a live discussion on October 7 about the AI gold rush.

From A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry at 2025-10-03 17:05:24

Gap Week: October 3, 2025

Hey folks! Apologies for the lack of a post this week – a mix of teaching, writing and family demands had to come first. Still, so that I don’t leave you with nothing to read, here are some things I’ve been reading and watching lately you may find interesting. Over on YouTube, Tod Todeschini of … Continue reading Gap Week: October 3, 2025 →

From The Incomparable Mothership at 2025-10-03 17:00:00

786: Vatgrown Ninja Assassins (560a2365-7002-42cb-b41d-2e3bce0828f2.mp3)

Grab your cyberspace deck and prepare to jack in—it’s time to discuss William Gibson’s groundbreaking classic novel, “Neuromancer.” We’ve got a panel of experts—and a first-timer!—ready to discuss how 1984’s future looks from the perspective of 2025’s present....

From School of War at 2025-10-03 10:30:00

Ep 236: Joshua Rovner on Grand Strategy (NEBM9943308151.mp3)

Joshua Rovner, Associate Professor in the School of International Service at American University and author of Strategy and Grand Strategy, joins the show to discuss the tension between pursuing military victory and securing a nation.       ▪️ Times     •      01:28 Introduction     •      01:35 MIT      •      05:03 Grand strategy              •      10:45 Peloponnesian War      •      18:05 Spartan strategy             •      22:34 Pericles                •      27:18 A terrible irony         •      32:43 Disastrous victory               •      41:35 British power     •      46:13 Atomic strategy Follow along on Instagram, X @schoolofwarpod, and YouTube @SchoolofWarPodcast Find a transcript of today’s episode on our School of War Substack

From GoodFellows: Conversations from the Hoover Institution at 2025-10-03 04:30:00

Who’s Going To Win The Future? Dan Wang on China’s Engineers vs. America’s Lawyers | GoodFellows | Hoover Institution (GoodFellows_2025-10-01_-_Dan_Wang_wip04_podcast_a1v8g.mp3)

One great power (China) has a relentless thirst to build that comes with a terrible human cost, while its main rival (America) is a more lawyerly and free society that’s prone to stifling ideas both good and bad. On the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Dan Wang, a Hoover Institution research fellow and author of the bestseller Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future, joins GoodFellows regulars Niall Ferguson and H.R. McMaster to discuss what the future holds for the two Cold War 2 rivals, plus Wang’s firsthand experiences witnessing China’s engineering boom and enduring its draconian pandemic policies. After that, the fellows weigh in on President Trump’s recent United Nations address and the state of that institution, the likelihood of Trump’s Gaza peace plan coming to fruition, the provision of long-range Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine, plus the merits of a US military strike inside Venezuela to counter narco-terrorism. In the lightning round: why America’s military brass gathered at Quantico; National Guard troops head to Portland, Oregon; Scotland’s frustration with illegal immigration; and the feasibility of the US regaining Afghanistan’s Bagram Air Base.  Subscribe to GoodFellows for clarity on today’s biggest social, economic, and geostrategic shifts — only on GoodFellows.

From Biz & IT – Ars Technica at 2025-10-02 22:10:23

Why iRobot’s founder won’t go within 10 feet of today’s walking robots

Rodney Brooks says humanoid robots pose hidden safety challenges and won't learn dexterity from video alone.