John Merrick
@johnmerrick
Deputy editor: @the-breakdown.bsky.social johnphilipmerrick@gmail.com / john.merrick@break-down.org
As @carbonbrief.org note, those figures are for all of Europe inc Russian Asia (74% of the landmass of "Europe" in this). Russia is having a relatively quiet season for fires. The rest of Europe is very much not –– it's second only to 2022 for severity so far
Ah and then here comes the execrable Matt Ridley with the worst possible take in the Speccie
as my colleague @adriennebuller.bsky.social recently catalogued for the New Statesman www.newstatesman.com/environment/...
a sharp piece by Jonathan Liew on Ceuta — particularly this. it’s clear why the grim racist novel The Camp of the Saints, with its depiction of an ”invasion” by an undifferentiated mass of Indians, is now so often referenced by the British right
I love to discover an essay where you're not sure which is worse: the appalling prose or the moronic thesis
This is excellent, from Nesrine Malick. And what she says about the Speccie here can be said for the rest of the right-wing press — reduced to cheap, nasty and poorly written slop. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A truly deranged article by the cretinous Lisa McKenzie in Spike about the forthcoming Tribune launch –– attacking what she calls the "bourgeois left" by invoking George Orwell (Eton) and EP Thompson (Dragon School, Kingswood; Cambridge). You couldn't make it up!
As i've been predicting for the past few years –– social housing will be the next right wing moral panic. It's incredible the speed in which this stuff (directly lifted from far right blogs) has ended up in centre-right publications
What I find ominous about Vauban Books is not simply its decision to republish France’s most notorious authors, but the strategic care with which they have reframed them as neglected classics of political thought unjustly excluded from translation by a timid or ideological publishing establishment.
Excellent from @will-davies.bsky.social on what feels like Britain's inevitable slide into reaction www.nytimes.com/2026/06/18/o...
Brilliant from @nesrinemalik.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
At once a wonderful piece of nature writing, a beautifully drawn picture of a small religious community, a history of nuclear power in Britain, and a brilliantly reported essay about the contradictions between conservation and modernisation
As Wallace says, "the American and Chinese varieties of capitalism are both awash in successes and failures. Leveraging the best elements of both systems is critical if we are to meet the challenges ahead of us."
Incredibly sharp and generative new essay out today on @the-breakdown.bsky.social by @jeremywallace.bsky.social, a brilliant piece of comparative political economy, between American and Chinese capitalisms, that asks what we can learn from each for the climate transition
We've had a huge number of excellent pitches –– but if you have ideas for pieces that look in particular at: - the history of Chinese environmentalism - environmental history - specific sectors or locations in China in relation to the climate crisis -China in Africa/Asia/LatAm then send them to us
Come join us to celebrate the launch of the new issue of the @the-breakdown.bsky.social! luma.com/3r5t0jyf
Deadline for pitches is 27 April. Before you send us your idea, please take a look at the kind of work we have published before to see if your piece would fit.
We're now open for pitches for issue #4 of the @the-breakdown.bsky.social: the China issue! If you have ideas for essays or pieces on any aspect of China's relationship with the climate crisis, at home or globally, then let us know. Full details here: break-down.org/pitching/
A brilliant essay by Rebekah Diski and George Edwards on Reform's fossil nationalism and how its power is fed by the very real contradictions of Britain's green energy transition. www.break-down.org/return-to-tr...
Can't believe we're being lectured to about Englishness by doughy-faced simpletons with broccoli hair
Londoners: next Wednesday we'll be discussing how the right won the internet with @profafinlayson.bsky.social. Open to all, but limited capacity, so RSVP essential. To: londontalkingshop@gmail.com
A brilliant rejoinder by @philtinline.bsky.social to the increasingly consensus right-wing view of the modern British state. The state has been hollowed out and is failing many people––but the solution is not more privatisation or markets, but more democracy! www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-...