News
Is violence an inevitable byproduct of the attention economy?
We need to start looking at this kind of performative violence as an endemic byproduct of the attention economy
Irish Politics
Campaigning likes it 1999 (when it feels like its 1938)
How do you run a political campaign without digital ads? I asked two of our best campaign gurus what we might expect.
Musk's profoundly ignorant and dangerous intervention in #Aras25
I really, really hope this isn't the start of a whole thing. Elon Musk has tweeted about the race for the Aras in the most profoundly ignorant and stupidly dangerous way possible. The tweet is screenshot below; in it Musk sub-tweets another tweet claiming Simon Harris "ordered
elections
Seven weeks to polling day: what The Briefing will cover
We finally have a date: October 24th. Between now and then, The Briefing will run twice weekly: short, data-led analysis of campaign dynamics, plus curated reads on elections and tech policy. No horse race, just what the campaign reveals about our democracy, our economy, and our digital future.
Why is this Presidential Election so weird?
We've had a load of elections around here lately - we're in our stride - so why does the looming Presidential Election feel so... weird? We're about 10 weeks out (we think - there is still no date) and it feels like both no-one
Data Centres
Irish data centres are facilitating surveillance and targeting of Palestinians, reports The Guardian
Some incredible new investigative reporting from The Guardian revealed today that Irish based Microsoft data centres are likely involved in a population scale Israeli military effort to surveil and plan airstrikes on Palestinians. The reporting is here - it is by Harry Davies and Yuval Abraham. They found that the
Meta “bans” political ads in the EU
Last night - a Friday night, in July - Meta announced that it would “no longer allow political, electoral and social issue ads on our platforms in the EU in response to new regulation”. The first thing I thought of when I read this was that scene from The Office
The pursuit of dirty fingernails
For the last few weeks a group of us from the neighbourhood - parents with kids around the same age - have been gathering on a patchwork of picnic blankets on a designated evening. It is so simple and yet feels like a miracle. Out there in the multiverse is
Europe
A moment of truth for Europe's tolerance of Ireland's tech ties
All going well, I will be on The Tonight Show this evening to talk tech and tariffs. Sharing my thoughts here; please do reply / email me with your own if you think I'm wide of the mark. The tariff triple threat The Irish state faces at least three
The Lookout: two recent good listens on tech stocks
This is the first of a new series of recommender newsletters. I'm starting with two recent podcast listens I've really enjoyed, each looking at the precarious world of tech stock valuations, and reflect on what it can mean for all of us. As always you tell
How to squander an empire
It is easy to look rich if you raid the family silver.
The Elizabeth Holmes of government efficiency
I have a piece in the Irish Times today about Elon Musk's performative vandalism of the US government. He has unleashed a band of inexperienced twenty somethings - some reportedly still teens - to "disrupt" government. And it is profoundly idiotic (not the same choice of