Burnhamism, as a field of academic research, appears to be in a state of disarray. Those of us who study Andy Burnham have to admit collectively that we do not know some very basic things about Burnhamism, things so basic that the knowledge of them is usually taken for granted by scholars dealing with other texts... @joshi: Can Andy Burnham survive the pressure of Westminster? newstatesman.com/politics/uk…

The United States is the world's largest exporter of natural gas — a remarkable change from decades ago, when America was dependent on the often-hostile OPEC nations for its energy needs. That's probably saved us as much as $4 trillion in the past two decades. That change is largely thanks to the "Shale Revolution," the development of fracking and horizontal drilling technology that is now responsible for 36 percent of total U.S. production. In a new @nberpubs paper, Berkeley's Lucas W. Davis uses data on gas prices in the United States, Europe, and Japan to estimate the savings generated by the Shale Revolution. The effect is obvious in the plot below: Starting in 2007, American prices diverge sharply from Europe and Japan. We're also more insulated from big shocks. He pegs the total as between $3.1T and $4.3T between 2007 and 2025. That's $164B to $227B per year — between $500 and $700 per person per year. nber.org/papers/w35245

An interesting challenge I just thought of: there's a common trope of declaring that certain German, French, Chinese, etc. philosophical or literary concepts are untranslatable. What's a concept from the *English* philosophical tradition which is similarly untranslatable?

.@20committee. Indeed, they trusted their generals, which was their mistake (, ‘But he did for them both with his plan of attack’) . The realisation that they had been led by fools only came later.

The Kremlin's preferred candidate for Armenian prime minister (elections are on June 7th) has "IC 1706 FSB" listed as his workplace in Russian passport records — designation typically used for informants and foreigners operating under FSB supervision

New details emerging on the difficulties in U.S.–Iran negotiations: As of now, Iran is only willing to commit to not developing nuclear weapons, while the U.S. is pushing for concrete steps to reduce enriched uranium—either by selling it, transferring it abroad, or diluting it. A major sticking point is the Strait of Hormuz: Iran wants it under its management, while the U.S. insists on full freedom of navigation. There’s also no agreement on financial relief. Qatar has stepped in with a proposal to provide Iran a $12B humanitarian loan. Notably, Lebanon is now part of the broader framework under discussion.

China literally has trees in Xi Jinping’s garden that are older than the United States! 🤣

It's probably the most basic human experience since we started building houses. In great Roman cities the Insulae, their apartments didn't have kitchen due to the fire risk. Instead there was a restaurant on the first floor where everyone grabbed their food.

Consider the contrast: many European governments that routinely invoke human rights principles when criticizing Israel have no hesitation in cultivating ever closer relations with Erdoğan’s Turkey, despite its increasingly authoritarian trajectory. In recent years, Erdoğan’s government has intensified pressure on the opposition through criminal investigations, arrests of politicians and activists, restrictions on independent media, and legal measures against elected opposition officials. The crackdown reached a new peak with moves against leading figures of the main opposition party, widely criticized by observers as an attempt to weaken political competition and consolidate presidential power. Yet far from discussing sanctions or boycotts, European leaders continue competing to strengthen political, economic, and strategic ties with Ankara.