Bo Franklin has (mostly) logged off 👻

We made a mag!! STUPIDLY excited to share issue 1 of our very own @BackstoryLDN mag. Bits by @jessicaandrews @stephenkb @calflyn @mickbrownwriter @bofrankln Alice Winn, Colin Walsh & more. Funny, informative - and a little bit snarky. Get issue 1 now - backstory.london/products/backs…

Just shortlisted for Data Journalism of the Year at the @Wincottfound Awards! Team effort with @ARobertsjourno @garamnd @MatterofMatt @bofrankln and @futuraprime economist.com/interactive/in…

Our satellite view of a year of war in Ukraine is online now and free to read A huge team effort from @Sondreus, @oballinger, @_rospearce, @OliviaFVane, @garamnd, @MatterofMatt, @futuraprime, @bofrankln, @DanRosenheck and me economist.com/interactive/20… @ECONdailycharts @TheEconomist

Who says The Economist doesn't do news you can use? @JamesFransham explains how to fix Britain's draughty, leaky houses, essential for reaching net zero economist.com/interactive/br…

@charliewwells @_abbymuller @AtterBooks I'd be devastated

@bofrankln @_abbymuller @AtterBooks What if I didn't just to spite you?!

But Vladimir Putin seems determined to drag the world back to a more bloodthirsty time. Read our piece here: econ.st/3CX57cQ

There are plenty of reasons why conquests are less common. Democracies are less likely to fight each other (or let others get away with it), territory has become harder to hold and international trade has reduced the potential spoils.

Big land grabs have become vanishingly rare in recent decades. Putin's bloody invasion of Ukraine bucks that historical trend. To explain why, @sondreus @garamnd @futuraprime and @MatterofMatt charted 200 years of warfare: econ.st/3CX57cQ

In between sweating and muttering "scorchio" I wrote some words to accompany this photo essay on the heatwaves stifling so much of the world, for @1843mag economist.com/1843/2022/07/1…

I had a good run as explainers editor but in hindsight my insistence on following the Queen Mother's adage of "never complain, never explain" probably contributed to my downfall. Good luck @_jessiewithani, you'll do great!

every day we stray further from jeremy king's light

I went storage hunting for a charticle in this week's paper with @baskerhel to explain why cheap gas won't help with living costs in Britain economist.com/britain/2022/0…

@bicknaker 👀

Excellent explainer by @ShakeelHashim on how researchers took a picture of the black hole at the middle of the Milky Way 🍩(Answer: they didn't, technically speaking) economist.com/the-economist-…

I like to think that if you traced Jaroslav Hasek's influence through 20th century culture you would eventually arrive at this point

Last week I wrote about The Good Soldier Svejk, a century old Czech anti-war satire that's much funnier than Catch-22. Special thanks to @rachelsllloyd for getting a cartoon of Svejk kicking a man up the arse into The Economist's culture section economist.com/culture/2022/0…

Anyway the message is launching a new TV channel is hard, even for a big media organisation

L!VE TV started out broadcasting This Morning-type lifestyle programmes but quickly went full Partridge with the News Bunny, Topless Darts and Tiffany's Big City Tips (think Bloomberg News with Page 3 girls). Eventually the channel became Babeworld

Despite the ratings flop that is GB News, Rupert Murdoch is convinced Britain wants more opinionated TV news. The success of @TalkTV depends largely on whether Piers Morgan draws in more viewers than he puts off. I looked at the new channel's chances economist.com/britain/piers-…