Mark Braund
@markbraund.substack.com
Politics, Economics, Culture, Music & Wine (DipWSET, no less) Writer of fiction: https://bloomsbury.substack.com and non-fiction: https://markbraund.substack.com https://winestories.substack.com/ https://theguardian.com/profile/markbraund
Update: I'm running 19k tomorrow. Yikes. At least the weather's look good. Please support this wonderful cause if you can.
Mark Braund@markbraund.substack.com · 2w agoI'm running 10k next weekend, which is ridiculous for someone of my age. So please support this wonderful cause if you can. Every day, Anthony Nolan gives four people a second chance of life by facilitating a stem cell transplant. 2026vitalitylondon10000.enthuse.com/pf/mark-braund
The sky at London Bridge right now. The photo doesn't do it justice, alas.
That's my evening sorted. My copy of Tears in Time, the new album by Peter Hammill, has just been delivered, two days ahead of the release date! There's nothing like a first listen on vinyl. burningshed.com/peter-hammil...
Tears In Time
2026's Tears In Time represents PH's first new work in five years. CD.
burningshed.com
If only more world leaders were as switched on to what's happening, and why, as António Guterres, then we might have a chance of getting out of the mess we're in. This sounds like a brilliant speech. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
Superpowers cannot solve world’s problems, UN chief says in final general assembly address
António Guterres says humanity faces unprecedented convergence of threats but mechanisms for collective action are under growing strain
theguardian.com
I'm running 10k next weekend, which is ridiculous for someone of my age. So please support this wonderful cause if you can. Every day, Anthony Nolan gives four people a second chance of life by facilitating a stem cell transplant. 2026vitalitylondon10000.enthuse.com/pf/mark-braund
Mark is raising money for Anthony Nolan
For the first time in a decade, I'm running to raise money for Anthony Nolan, a brilliant charity which directly saves lives. Every day, the great team at Anthony Nolan gives four people who would oth
2026vitalitylondon10000.enthuse.com
New post from me looking at AI, the apparently unstoppable force that is overtaking all our lives, through the eyes of the great economist John Maynard Keynes. markbraund.substack.com/p/keynes-and...
Keynes and AI
The great economist would have much to say about the choices we face
markbraund.substack.com
There isn't a level of obscene wealth that is enough for these psychos. They spend their lives extracting wealth created by others from the economy and then move on to the next target to minimise their tax liability. www.theguardian.com/news/2026/se...
Billionaire Chris Rokos, who paid £330m in tax last year, to quit UK
Hedge fund tycoon is latest financier to exit amid fears among super-rich over tax rises
theguardian.com
A new (old) piece from me to mark the demise of the BBC’s Sunday afternoon ski programme Ski Sunday. Although as you’ll read, that once great show rather lost its way years ago, an early victim of our ever-decreasing attention spans. markbraund.substack.com/p/farewell-s...
Farewell Ski Sunday
although the BBC’s Sunday afternoon skiing show lost its way years ago
markbraund.substack.com
It's a great shame that the BBC has chosen to axe Ski Sunday after 50 years, but in truth Ski Sunday lost its way years ago, as I wrote for The Guardian back in 2008. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Ski-less Sunday
Why on earth has the BBC dumbed down its flagship winter sports show? I feel totally patronised
theguardian.com
Fabulous obituary by Yvonne Roberts of the great Gloria Steinem - someone who did more to improve the world that I grew up in than possibly anyone else. www.theguardian.com/world/2026/s...
Gloria Steinem obituary
Unflinching campaigner for women’s and civil rights who galvanised a generation of activists
theguardian.com
'In farcical scenes, play was eventually abandoned at 18:30 in the best weather of the day to boos from the remaining spectators. There was potential for another hour to be used.' BBC Yep, I was there. Once again, test cricket shoots itself in the foot. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...
England vs Pakistan: Dan Lawrence impresses as weather disrupts second Test at Lord's
Dan Lawrence impresses in devilishly difficult batting conditions to advance England’s push for a series win over Pakistan on a weather-hit third day of the second Test.
bbc.co.uk
Very important piece by @annpettifor.bsky.social. It feels like we’re running out of time to avoid the most damaging collision of financial and political crises in a century. annpettifor.substack.com/p/trump-is-t...
Trump is Threatening to Take Us All Down
Having catastrophically lost the war on Iran, he now declares economic war on the world.
annpettifor.substack.com
Very sensible article by @michaelujacobs.bsky.social on the Jackdaw and Rosebank drilling license decision. I think he's right: yes to Jackdaw, no to Rosebank, unless Rosebank's developers commit to carbon capture and storage (which they won't). www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Can Burnham justify giving the go ahead to oil drilling? Yes, but these must be the conditions | Michael Jacobs
Carbon capture and storage could make the Rosebank site compatible with UK net zero commitments – if its owners are willing to pay the price, says economist Michael Jacobs
theguardian.com
Brilliant piece of journalism from @zoesqwilliams.bsky.social. And great that she mentions Andrew Lobaczewski, whose crucial ideas are never discussed in the mainstream media, or anywhere else for that matter. www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
How to spot a psychopath: ‘It’s like the difference between a domestic cat and a wild cat’
People with persistent predatory personalities cause an inordinate amount of pain. Recently, our shared understanding of them has grown – and it could help protect us
theguardian.com
New post from me. Well, actually it’s an old piece, but it still holds up, so perhaps it'll find a new audience. I wrote it to to show how far politics had shifted to the right since Richard Nixon was president. 20 years on .... markbraund.substack.com/p/nixon-the-...
Nixon, the Lefty
A closer look at his presidential record reveals how far to the right politics has shifted in recent years.
markbraund.substack.com
Beggars belief that Barnstaple Hospital (where three of my grandparents ended their days) is being described as remote. North Devon has several mid-sized towns that used to have their own maternity provision. Now women have to go to Exeter?! It's criminal. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026...
Doctors at remote Devon hospital get ‘crash course’ after maternity unit shut
Staff at North Devon district hospital given training in difficult births in case mothers-to-be cannot get to Exeter
theguardian.com
I'm with @bearlypolitics.co.uk. Pride is a celebration of the greatest human rights achievement in Britain in my lifetime. If people on the right choose to feel antagonised, then they need to explain why the rights they claim should be denied to many of my friends.
The Bear@bearlypolitics.co.uk · 2mo agoI think this is a fair question that I do believe is asked in good faith, and I'm going to answer it in what I hope is a fair way. Pride is not, nor has it ever been, a way to "antagonise right-wing people." The rights that I have as a member of the LGBTQ community exists largely on the back of 1/
Sometimes you see a headline and you just think, Jesus, this is so f***ing obvious, was it really necessary to spend money researching it? www.theguardian.com/science/2026...
E-scooters far more dangerous than motorbikes or cycles, analysis suggests
Study of accidents in England and Wales shows e-scooter riders three times more likely to suffer traumatic brain injury than bikers
theguardian.com
None of us is more important than a Palestinian child being bombed by Israel, or a Sudanese woman being assaulted by the RSF, or a Congolese child being enslaved so you can use a smartphone and AI, or an immigrant being tortured in ICE detention, or a detainee in Riker's who can't afford bail.
And we can now safely assume that he went home and took it out on his wife.
Parody Nigel Farage@parodypm.bsky.social · 2mo agoIt is two years today since this dimwit gave us the most hilarious demonstration of karma in history.
Anthropic shredding millions of rare books should be a crime. It’s also a perfect encapsulation of what utter shit generative AI is and how it fundamentally makes the world worse.
New post from me explaining why banks are a special case and should therefore be taxed more heavily than other businesses. markbraund.substack.com/p/jamie-dimo...
Jamie Dimon really doesn't get it
Banks like J.P. Morgan sit at the heart of our dysfunctional economy but make very little contribution to the creation of new wealth
markbraund.substack.com
@rafaelbehr.bsky.social at his absolute best in @theguardian.com today, especially in his analysis of Trumpian far-right anti-free market capitalism. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Suddenly the British right feels a political chill. It’s getting cold in Andy Burnham’s shadow | Rafael Behr
The Tories and Reform had it easy when Keir Starmer was self-destructing – but a new PM with ideas exposes how vacant the opposition has become, says Guardian columnist Rafael Behr
theguardian.com
Today experienced the 24th day of year hitting 30C in London. For perspective in whole of 1980s we had 21 days.
The Office: Woman Holding 'HOT' Sign
ALT: The Office: Woman Holding 'HOT' Sign
static.klipy.com
Fifty years ago, when I was laughing my head off at The Goodies, I never thought I'd one day be a member of the very institution they lampoon so hilariously here. RIP the great Bill Oddie www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRdf...
The M.C.C Reserve | The Goodies
YouTube video by Goodies Clips - Any Clips, Any Time
youtube.com
You see everything is connected. The marine heatwaves off the coasts of Europe make heatwaves on land more intense, which in turn dries out vegetation, which then creates perfect fire weather conditions. Brought to you by the world's refusal to drastically reduce the burning of fossil fuels.
Ongoing marine heatwave in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea | EU Space Support Office
In late May 2026, several countries in Western Europe faced above-average temperatures. During the same period, large areas of the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea also recorded above-average ...
eu-space.europa.eu
My standard FT subscription won't let me read this. But it's a clear indication of what happens as we move rapidly towards a two-tier economy in which wealth creation no longer depends on human labour. It will tear a massive hole in social fabric, and politicians are nowhere near acknowledging it.
Financial Times@financialtimes.com · 2mo agoWhy wages and productivity look set to diverge further ft.trib.al/PrTmG3v
For far too long, the United States has been ambivalent about its war dead, and wounded veterans. But this is beyond the pale. RIP Isabella Gonzalez, you immensely brave young woman. You will not be forgotten.
Meidas Charise Lee 💙🌊🌴🥥🫘@chariselee.bsky.social · 2mo agoDied for a country that won’t even acknowledge her.
