A short 🧵on Rivers.

We think of rivers as natural, ancient forces — winding through landscapes, sustaining life. But what if they're no longer what they seem? 1/5 Across the world, our waterways are being transformed into silent test labs for human pharmaceuticals. And the results are deeply alarming. 🌍💊 2/5

Some thoughts on the tariff disaster:

1. Tech bros took pride of place at Trump's inauguration two months ago
2. They showed up in the expectation that the new administration would help their companies soar even higher

1/3 3. They figured that Trump would push Europe to loosen regulation - and put pressure on China.
4. To show fealty, some dropped DEI policies (Meta), others interfered with editorial policy (WaPo) and others prepared to serve (DOGE)

On one of the worst intelligence failures of the modern era. Four points stand out 1/4
theatlantic.com/politics/archi… 1. The sheer sloppiness. Proper amateur hour.
2. the use of an unapproved app to do government business

Very proud of colleagues and friends who have published outstanding books in the last few weeks - and these four in particular: 1. The West: A New History of an Old Idea by @nmacsweeney - a wonderfully ambitious and outstanding sweep across millennia that asks important questions about how we think about the past waterstones.com/book/the-west/…

Here we go: Putin explaining who Russia is fighting (and why) The West has been leading Russians into poverty and death. Apparently.

A quick 🧵Putin’s address last night was (presumably) delayed so it could go out middle of the night NYC time - where most global leaders are attending the UN General Assembly. This buys a few hours; but above all it dominates morning news schedules - which has some presentational value /2

Huge proportion of Russian war casualties from Tuva; Buryatia; Krasnodar Krai; Chechnya and other regions. Almost none from Moscow. In other words, Russia sacrificing minority peoples in the war against Ukraine. Fascinating discussion @Cambridge_Uni Per capita casualties 300x lower for Moscow than Tuva - which has the highest median income of Russia's region.

Astonishing. A tragic accident that comes at a very difficult time.

https://twitter.com/IAF_MCC/status/1468559355868028936

Gen Rawat had played a crucial role in re-defining India's foreign affairs and military policy

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/china-bi…

Am beyond thrilled to announce the publication of first of a new mega-volume series on the History of Constantinople for @CambridgeUP - of which I am the Series Editor.

[Drum roll]:
1/4 The Statues of Constantinople by the brilliant Albrecht Berger
2/4

cambridge.org/core/elements/…

We’ve had global diseases for many centuries. So where do they come from? How do they get maintained of human societies asks @monicaMedHist @OxfordByzantine 2009 definition (by Dr Tony Fauci ) of pandemic: geographic extension, disease movement, high attack rate, minimal population immunity, contagiousness, and severity @monicaMedHist @OxfordByzantine