The Joy of Six 1401

Natasha Lindstaedt on the new 'iron curtain' being built across Europe: "Every European nation bordering Russia and its ally Belarus is accelerating plans to construct hundreds of miles of fortified border to defend against possible Russian aggression. The reasons are clear. The post-cold war European security framework – which relied on strengthening international institutions and trade, Nato expansion and US military guarantees – is being eroded."

American liberals should speak out John Bolton's behalf, argues Noah Berlatsky.

"Much of what’s known as 'AI' has nothing to do with progress – it’s about lobbyists pushing shoddy digital replacements for human labour that increase billionaire's profits and make workers' lives worse." John Chadfield says AI is a total grift.

Polly Atkin considers The Salt Path and the dangers of publishers endorsing quackery: "Publishing is so attached to the idea of a narrative arc that peaks with healing that it simply cannot encompass the truth: if it were that simple, no one would be ill. If we could all walk or swim or wild ourselves better, one in five of us would not be disabled. After all, Thoreau, the godfather of walking literature in the US, still died of TB."

Annie Whitehead has been watching King & Conqueror: "Does it matter that they got the history so wrong? In this case, I think it does, because so much is wrong, and especially as it shows the women in such bad light (Emma irredeemably evil, Matilda a torturer). There were powerful women at the heart of this story and they’ve been done a disservice."

"In February 1748, customs officer William Galley and Daniel Chater, a witness travelling to Chichester to give evidence against the gang disappeared.  Due to the fear of reprisals, few people spoke out against the smugglers." Jenny Bettger uncovers the dark history of the Hawkhurst Gang in West Sussex.