Notes from the UK

• What will it mean if Covid stops being a pandemic? 2 years ago The talk these days is that Covid will eventually lose its pandemic status and turn into an ordinary, house-trained endemic disease–the kind of disease that circulates in a population and gets us sick but doesn’t give us nightmares, overwhelm hospitals, … Continue reading →
• How the Victorians cleaned house  2 years ago Like so many other things, how you cleaned house in Victorian England depended on how much money you had. Money decided how much time you had, how much stuff you owned that demanded to be cleaned, and whether you cleaned … Continue reading →
• How MI5 keeps Britain's secrets safe-ish, and other news from Britain 2 years ago MI5 has warned LinkedIn users that they’re at risk of spilling the nation’s secrets.  Let’s take that apart, okay? What’s MI5?  It’s the British domestic security service. MI6 does the overseas spookery. To quote its own website, “MI5’s mission is … Continue reading →
• What British swear word is going out of style?  2 years ago Britain’s internationally famous swear word, bloody, has dropped by 80% in the popularity rankings, landing in third place, behind fuck and shit. Or as the Independent so delicately puts it, behind “the f-word” and “s***.” No, I don’t know why … Continue reading →
• Your ten-minute history of the English courts 2 years ago We can trace the history of English courts back to–well, it depends on who you read: the Anglo-Saxon moot courts, the medieval manor courts, Henry II, Richard I, a few other people with numbers after their names. Take your pick. … Continue reading →

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