The Blind Spot classified-tech-themed Tête-à-Tête with Nick Cook
With Donald Trump both ready to disclose a raft of UFO files and threatening to embargo Spain (an outcome nobody had on their geopolitical bingo card for 2026), we felt there could be no more appropriate moment to convene once again for a fine-dining experience built around Spanish culinary consumption, while discussing defense technology, classified […]
Lebanon’s shift hints at long-rumoured, secret de-radicalisation deal in the Middle East
A striking sentiment is emerging on the ground in Lebanon: 20 years of regional political stagnation may have shifted within a few weeks. And it may speak to a greater transformation. One that is secretly reshaping the entire Middle East. I’ve been obsessed with this theory since I first heard of it last year, from […]
A dispatch from Cape Town
I’m writing this from South Africa, where I’ve been spending the past few days at a retreat hosted by Gold Republic alongside a small group of macro thinkers including Brent Johnson, Whitney Baker, John Butler, and Michael Every. It’s been a strange vantage point from which to watch the sudden escalation around Iran — slightly […]
Don’t worry, Gibraltar will never be Spanish
Were it to turn Spanish, it would set off a series of dominoes that could devastate both Spain and Morocco.
OPINION: Artificial intelligence risks dumb outcomes unless politicians act now
Legally obligating companies to grant displaced workers equity equal to a year’s salary would spread AI’s windfall, without resorting to UBI.
The Fed Funds market is becoming pointless
The question is what will replace it and how responsive will any new system be to the intraday liquidity needs of the real economy?
Is China winning the trade war or not?
China’s trade surplus persists despite tariffs. But few see who’s really financing it.
How the U.S. Treasury engineered a dollar squeeze in Iran
And what it suggests about how financial pressure could be turned on China and Europe.
Why Ukraine won’t stop attacking American-owned oil infrastructure in Russia
Ukrainian drones struck some corporate offices in Novorossiysk on the Russian Black Sea coastline in September, 2025. The Russia-based oil company targeted claimed this was “an all-out attack” where “the obvious target was to murder as many people as possible.” They have good reason to complain: much of the company’s infrastructure, and many of the ships using […]
LONG READ: Welcome to the tundra of the real
How a media frenzy turned Greenland into a stage set while its real struggles stayed off-script.