The Joy of Six 1590

Jonathan Wilson explains why we're stuck with a Premier League in the clutches of the global mega-rich: "Clubs represent their communities and for fans support becomes an aspect of identity, a link to family and place and past, a role that has only become more significant as the influence of traditional institutions – the church, the workplace, the social club – has faded. Yet fans in England have almost never owned their clubs, which in part underlies the present crisis."

"While investors get richer, the dysfunctional market inflicts a huge cost on children in care. Young people removed from their families are scattered across the country to homes that don't even meet the most basic standards set by Ofsted. Increasingly, children are sent to homes that are not registered with Ofsted. These homes are not subject to regulatory scrutiny or external oversight. Vulnerable children are put at great risk of further harm." Martin Barrow on the government's failure to make good its pledge to end profiteering in children’s social care.

"In the debates that surrounded the bill that would go on to become the Representation of the People Act 1918, an amendment was tabled to introduce proportional representation, which was narrowly defeated." Jennifer Davey surveys the long history of debates about how MPs should be elected.

Dan Falk says eugenics is rearing its ugly head again in today’s crucible of politics and culture: "Much like its original incarnation from the late 19th century through the aftermath of World War II, its current rise is tangled up in politics, ideology, and an insidious desire to divide rather than unite people. And, as in the old days, on the unfounded notion that biology is the be-all and end-all of a person's character and worth."

"It could be the strip of dirt by some train tracks or a gravel-filled schoolyard or sometimes even guerrilla gardening on abandoned lots – a kind of living patchwork with the potential to transform an entire neighbourhood." Anna Rogers celebrates the giant power of tiny parks.

Discontinued Notes walks through a townscape of canals, flyovers and ruin porn beneath Spaghetti Junction.

The Joy of Six 1251

The new voter ID rules rolled out in this month’s General Election may have prevented 370,000 people from casting their ballots, disproportionately affecting women and people of colour, reports Josiah Mortimer.

Huw Lewis examines how Vaughan Gething's short period as first minister fell apart and what it means for Welsh Labour: "As we look ahead to the next Senedd election in 2026 (which will be fought using a fully proportional electoral system), the multiparty nature of Welsh devolved politics is only likely to increase. How Labour responds to that challenge is a question that the party should consider carefully as it moves to elect its third Welsh leader within a year."

"The constant blaming of [Andrew] Tate for the rise of misogyny is making me increasingly uneasy. Not because I want to diminish his role or responsibility. But because if all this *waves hands manically at young men increasingly hating women* is Tate’s fault, it lets everyone else off the hook." Sian Norris on men and misogyny. 

"Boundaries have always been fuzzy, and the further a concept moves away from the diagnostic criteria, the fuzzier they become. Once a diagnosis is 'liberated from conventional psychiatric nosology', then it will mean very different things to different people." Naomi Fisher discusses the societal effect of the rise of psychiatric self-diagnosis.

Adam Wren looks at how The Lord of the Rings has influenced the politics of Donald Trump's vice-presidential candidate J.D. Vance.

Stephanie Gaunt takes us to the Crossness Pumping Station at Abbey Wood on the lower Thames: "It is very much a work in progress. Only one of the four massive engines, the Prince Consort, is in working order, and another, Victoria, is in the process of restoration. The other two are huge inert masses of rusty iron."