Explainer 5 min read

Is anyone in there?

Someone you know is probably starting to lean on an AI. Not in the productivity sense, that's everywhere. In the confidant sense. Talking to it …

Explainer 6 min read

Two Terms! No more!

Last Sunday, Hungarian voters answered a constitutional question Irish voters have never been asked. Should the chief executive of the country be allowed to serve …

Explainer 6 min read

Ten Cent Off a Litre

On Saturday evening the government announced a €505m fuel support package in response to six days of nationwide protests. The measures include a 10c reduction …

Explainer 8 min read

It's the System, Stupid

In 1992, James Carville pinned a sign to the wall of Bill Clinton's campaign headquarters in Little Rock that read, in three lines, "Change versus …

Explainer 12 min read

What the Surplus Hides

On paper, Ireland is the only Western European country currently building government wealth at scale rather than running it down. By the standard measures, the …

Explainer 10 min read

The Lever and the Lie

An examination of how social media platforms exploit B.F. Skinner's variable ratio reinforcement, the most addictive behavioural pattern ever identified, to condition both creators and …

Explainer 13 min read

The Ladder They Pulled Up

Ireland's government wants more professional landlords. Ireland's young people can't find jobs. These are not two stories. They are one policy, viewed from opposite ends …

Explainer 6 min read

The Tools Already Exist

Ireland has some of the strongest public records laws in Europe. FOI, the Lobbying Act, beneficial ownership registers, planning databases — the infrastructure for accountability …

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