The Joy of Six 1456

"At present the Tories are making the same mistakes as their continental cousins – aping the rhetoric and policies of the further right upstart party that is destroying them from the flank. As long as this happens the Blue Wall of small towns and rural hinterland across the South beyond London will disappear altogether with large swathes of the country turning into a Lib Dem/Reform battle (council by election results show this is already happening)." Matthew Pennell asks if centre-right parties are finished across Europe.

AI chatbots are gossiping about us behind our backs. Ashley Fike summarises a paper by the philosophers Joel Krueger and Lucy Osler.

Fiona Sturges says podcasts are being ruined by their rush to video: "Much of the drive behind video content comes from its potential as a marketing tool for the show. Footage can easily be clipped up and shared on social media to help drive audience engagement and, where possible, generate news lines."

Tom Yarrow has been studying heritage railway volunteers to learn about male friendship: "Rather than dismiss their approach as 'repression', I argue in a forthcoming paper that we need to appreciate how people can develop intimate and caring relationships, without naming emotions."

"With a preference for pastel pink powdered wigs and lavender floral suits, Mozart is depicted as a punk rocker before there was punk rock, which worked in the film’s favor in 1984 as a reflection of ‘80s fashion and still works today." Michelle Swope welcomes the appearance of a restored version of Amadeus.

Sam Dalling offers an appreciation of Somerset County Cricket Club's Rew brothers: "There is a danger of getting too hyped up, of heaping too much pressure on young shoulders, but the sense is that both can cope. There is a humility to the pair and an apparent ability to block it all out. They still live at home with their parents and are just enjoying life with their mates."