Can Europe really build its own tech stack, or is EuroStack just another well-funded diagram waiting to happen? I sketched out a few thoughts on the EU’s latest moonshot over at NGI. It’s got funding figures, federated fantasies, and a healthy dose of dry scepticism. Have a peek at my sketch over at NGI

The Tyrant in the North archetype is not a performer but a preserver: of myth, of order, of his own supremacy. This archetype does not rise amid noise but descends with silence. It calcifies institutions, hollows out succession, and encases power in ritual. When the wheel of collective life stops turning, you will usually find a frozen king gripping its hub. The north of the wheel In Indigenous frameworks like the Plains peoples’ Medicine Wheel, the North is the realm of the elder. It represents wisdom, vision, and responsibility, the long gaze of time. The North holds the archetype of the King or Chief: the steward of legacy, the guardian of community, the one who leads from stillness. ...

Steelmanning the case, while noting that laughing at the circus doesn’t mean you want to live in the tent. Trump the trickster: the joke that ran for president Donald J. Trump, property mogul, reality TV star, political wrecking ball, is many things. But viewed through the mythic lens of the trickster, he becomes oddly legible. Like Anansi, Loki, or Hermes after too much Adderall, Trump doesn’t simply break rules, he points at them, mocks them, and sells merch off the wreckage. He is not the fool. He is the dealer of foolishness, and he’s made the world play. ...

The trickster is no ordinary troublemaker. They are the necessary saboteur, the holy vandal, the one who pries open order just enough to let chaos breathe. Found in every corner of the world and across every era, the trickster is an ancient archetype dressed in local clothes, part comedian, part rebel, part divine disruption. They don’t simply play tricks; they expose the trick of the world itself. From the scheming spider Anansi to the gender-bending Loki, from Coyote’s dusty trails to Hermes’ winged heists, the trickster thrives in the cracks of civilisation, those uncomfortable in-between spaces where certainties collapse and new meanings ferment. If priests bless the structure and kings enforce it, the trickster questions the terms of the deal. They aren’t against the rules. They just want to know who wrote them and whether the ink is dry. ...

Long before Freud started pointing at cigars and claiming they were something else, humans had a knack for repeating themselves, in stories, in stone, in superstition. Scratch beneath any civilisation, and you’ll find the same motley cast showing up again and again: the wise elder, the brave fool, the trickster, the tyrant, the lover, the destroyer. Different clothes, same bones. These are archetypes, not characters, but patterns. Not clichés, but deep structure. ...

We often think of democratic deficits as abstract, something that lives in Brussels conference rooms and academic papers. But in practice, power without accountability isn’t just theoretical. It shows up in the bills you pay, the apps you use, the water you drink, and the politicians you never seem to be able to reach. Here’s how it plays out across key sectors: Climate and energy, lofty goals, murky delivery Europe’s climate policy is a paradox: ambitious in targets, opaque in implementation. ...

Europe does not lack power. It lacks responsibility. From national governments to supranational institutions, boardrooms to bureaucracies, decisions are made daily that affect millions. And yet, ask the average citizen who actually decided to privatise their rail service, greenlight a mega-merger, or rubber-stamp a controversial directive, and you’ll be met with a shrug. Somewhere, a meeting happened. A hand was raised. And life changed, with no one to call, no one to vote out, and no one who seems particularly bothered either way. ...

In certain corners of politics and punditry, a curious thesis has been gaining ground: that our societies are teetering on the brink because of an “oversupply of elite.” Too many graduates, too many experts, too many laptop-class professionals sipping ethically sourced coffee while redesigning the world from their glass towers. It’s a neat little idea. Trouble is, it’s also largely nonsense. This article unpacks the claim, considers its strongest arguments, and then gives it the send-off it deserves, ideally with a clipboard and a gentle push down the escalator of wishful thinking. ...

The European Democracy Shield (EUDS), a name that practically screams “importance”, if not effectiveness. One imagines a shining bulwark of European resolve, standing firm against the onslaught of foreign interference, disinformation, and creeping authoritarianism. In practice, though, we might be dealing with something rather less heroic: an ambitious framework coated in Brussels gloss, promising much, delivering… well, that remains to be seen. The EUDS: idealism or institutional theatre? On paper, the European Democracy Shield is a bold step. It claims to offer a in-depth defence of democratic norms, combining regulation of digital spaces, protection for media, and support for civil society into one elegant package. But the EU is no stranger to bold declarations. The question is whether this will be another statement of intent with no meaningful enforcement, or something that actually holds the line. ...

At the 2025 ArcheoScienceFest in Castellum, Utrecht, we took part in a lively science dialogue session titled Airborne Multispectral Imaging, led by Matthias Lang and Wouter Emaus. The event combined Roman ruins with remote sensing, and offered a glimpse into how drones, wavelengths, and algorithms are quietly revolutionising archaeological discovery. What is airborne multispectral imaging? Multispectral imaging (MSI) involves capturing data across several specific wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum, not just visible light, but also near-infrared and other spectral bands. Plants, soils, and moisture each reflect light differently depending on their condition and composition. This subtle variance, invisible to the naked eye, becomes gold dust to archaeologists. Buried walls, ditches, or pits disturb surface vegetation just enough to leave faint spectral traces, crop marks, soil marks, which MSI can detect with startling accuracy. ...