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My book THE SURGE is out today with ⁦@HarperCollins⁩ It’s about floods and how humanity has reshaped the natural world in awe-inspiring and terrible ways.

For the history, science and future trends about floods read @jeevanvasagar 's brilliant The Surge. A foamy topic but this is a calm, whip smart book . worldofbooks.com/en-ie/products…

I've left Politico as its UK tech reporter, to build something new - a daily briefing on AI in the UK. Why? What? All below 👇

Happy New Year! This week's post is about books, and specifically about some books I read as a teenager (or: science fiction writers and their fear of science) jeevanvasagar.substack.com/p/how-i-read?r…

I wrote this after a couple of people asked about the process of writing, and I thought about some of the elements I find useful -- from psychology to soundtracks. open.substack.com/pub/jeevanvasa…

It's hard to comprehend just how awful the 1755 Lisbon earthquake was -- a quake, then tsunami, then fire. I wrote about what it means for us now. open.substack.com/pub/jeevanvasa…

It's also just a very strange sight: recognisable objects like a menu and an office worker's pass... amid a sea of shredded plastic.

The trash heap raises lots of questions about the state of the country... and why we're letting parts of it rot.

Now using Substack as a way to try out ideas. This week's post -- a visit to the garbage mountain by a river in Oxfordshire. @jeevanvasagar/note/c-179620556?utm_source=notes-share-action&r=5vhvs" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@jeevanvasagar…

And last week's here, on watching Dallas and how that might affect your fertility: @jeevanvasagar/note/c-174555867?r=5vhvs&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">substack.com/@jeevanvasagar…

Started a newsletter, chiefly as a way to try out ideas (and share recommendations). Latest here: open.substack.com/pub/jeevanvasa…

@NorthbankTalent And more on @closefrank's book here, via @HistoryExtra podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/his…

More on Tim Gregory's book here, via @NorthbankTalent x.com/NorthbankTalen…

Can nuclear power provide the abundant clean energy that saves the world? Looking forward to joining @closefrank and Tim Gregory to discuss the wonders of atom-splitting. Tuesday 21 October, 7:30pm, @Wimbookfest London SW19 Last few tickets here: wimbledonbookfest.org/events/frank-c…

@ProvdSaxon haha, nooo. I don't want to be in your Volksgemeinschaft. No-one does.

On a purely linguistic note, I think "ordinary and natural" is a marketing phrase. It looks like it means something when it doesn't really... "ordinary and natural flakes of golden corn"

The real problem is when you organise politics and laws on the basis of ethnic groups, which quickly gets messy and cruel. 'We welcome BAME candidates' is not equivalent to: 'Your grandparents - all of pure blood, were they?'

The limits of a family or an extended family can be ordinary and natural, I guess, but the limits of a country always have to be imagined into existence.

@DouglasCarswell I don't think confident, optimistic people speak about "the mass deportation of the culturally incompatible"... this is "enemies of the people" territory.

@DouglasCarswell The owner of this site is obviously an exception (he does, at least, have a grand vision for where humanity's going).

Englishness has always struck me as a fluid concept (in a good way). I think one reason for this is that the English have been so dominant (through numbers and ££) within the British Isles that there hasn't been much need to assert identity.