Yesterday evening, I watched Boris Johnson deliver the daily coronavirus briefing from No 10, with questions from the media entirely devoted to the Dominic Cummings kerfuffle (view on that from the Guardian and the Telegraph). If Boris had thought that his measly statement about it would have been enough so he could move on, he was sorely mistaken. In essence, he robustly defended his advisor saying he had spoken to him at length and was satisfied that his actions in driving over 250 miles to … [Read more...] about Boris Johnson’s self-isolating kerfuffle
Politics
SDF 35: We would have recorded you a shorter podcast …
The May episode of the Small Data Forum podcast gave Sam, Thomas and I a lot of space to get a few things off our chests about the present lockdown status in the UK we're all experiencing in one form or another. Recorded last week via Zoom, episode 35 is dominated by some big topics. Government communication with daily TV briefings, big-brand marketing and face masks; the politics of priorities in the wrong order; Colonel Tom, and more. It's actually the topic of priorities in the wrong … [Read more...] about SDF 35: We would have recorded you a shorter podcast …
SDF 34: “If broadband goes down, we’re all screwed”
In the midst of coronavirus lockdowns just about everywhere, I suppose it's natural for some people to wonder if the Internet can hold up and not collapse under the strain of millions of people suddenly working at home, schooling at home and playing at home, all during the so-called working day and beyond, for an extended period of continuous months. As someone who works for an organisation that's all about the resilience of the Internet, I also suppose it's inevitable that I'd be the one to … [Read more...] about SDF 34: “If broadband goes down, we’re all screwed”
SDF 33: Convolvulus, Coronavirus & the Thomas theorem
Coronavirus, COVID-19 and the great mis-infodemic are centre stage in this episode 33 of the Small Data Forum podcast. The global pandemic provides Thomas Stoeckle, Sam Knowles and I with an array of topics to dissect and discuss as we take solace from the wisdom of the superforecasting capabilities of Asterix and his indomitable Gauls. “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequence,” writes Thomas in the show notes. This little known sociological formula from the … [Read more...] about SDF 33: Convolvulus, Coronavirus & the Thomas theorem
SDF 32: When Henry VIII met Dr Strangelove
If historical analogies provide the measure of a man, then Downing Street henchman-in-chief, lead iconoclast and perpetual ideas recyclist “Classic Dom” Cummings is doing a spectacularly good job, writes Thomas Stoeckele introducing the show notes for episode 32 of our Small Data Forum podcast. In this episode that Thomas, Sam Knowles and I recorded just a week after Boris got Brexit done, we disagree with such a wild claim mostly in a reasonable way (although Thomas has a different view on … [Read more...] about SDF 32: When Henry VIII met Dr Strangelove