My week of Monday 10 to Sunday 16 February 2025 was dominated by a long day trip to Sydney on Wednesday and the Cabramatta Lunar New Year Festival on Saturday. But next week will be a big podcast week.
If you’ve been following some of my health stories in recent months, you’ll know that in December I fell over and broke my face. There’s photos down the bottom of that page.
Well, as a follow-up, my medical team (hah!) thought it would be best to check my heart. Some CT coronary angiography reveals that I do have a heart, and it works, but that there’s some calcification of the arteries. Not unusual, and not urgent, and not related to the falling down thing, but I’m told it’s in the top 30% “for a man of your age”.
Don’t worry, kids, they’ll start using that phrase for you eventually. Unless you’re not a man, in which case they’ll use the equivalent.
Some other tests confirmed what I already knew: I am seriously not fit. So these matters will be addressed with more vigour, both literally and metaphorically. Stay tuned.
Podcasts
- On Friday I recorded a fun but disturbing conversation with columnist and author John Birmingham, but a confluence of cosmic forces has meant it won’t be posted until early in the coming week. Probably on Monday.
- I also have the first pilot of Another Untitled Music Podcast still to post, and I expect that one to be posted in the coming week as well.
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Articles
- The Weekly Cybers #55. AI doesn’t work, AI makes you dumb, AI for HR is high-risk, the US says don’t worry about AI safety, and Apple fights a UK backdoor order.
You can read my previous writing at Authory, where you can also subscribe to an email compilation of any new stories each Sunday morning.
Media Appearances, Photos, Videos, Corporate Largesse
None of these. You can subscribe to my YouTube channel to be notified when new videos appear and when livestreams are scheduled.
Muskwatch
I have a problem. Yes, I know, but let’s focus on this one problem. While I want to keep track of what the world’s often-richest persons up to, his fate is now linked to the madness of American politics under Donald Trump. To talk about Musk is to talk about his creation DOGE, and to talk about DOGE is to talk about the most significant force in American government. I’ll keep this going for a new more week, but I’m not sure how long it will last.
- “Elon Musk’s DOGE agency is at the centre of controversy in the US. So what is it?” This article is headed with a photo of Musk standing in a triumphant pose at the lectern of the President of the United States. You just know he’s been fantasising about this.
- Musk appeared at a joint press conference in the Oval Office with some minion called Trump, and here’s the full video.
- In a clip from that video, Elon Musk’s kid keeps saying weird stuff about Trump, but don’t we all?
- US government struggles to rehire nuclear safety staff it laid off days ago. This is what happens when you sack people without proper HR processes.
- “Elon Musk’s gutting of US agencies is illegal, experts say. How do you muzzle Doge?“
- What it means when Elon Musk brings his children to work.
- Hate speech on X surged for at least 8 months after Elon Musk takeover.
- “Look past Elon Musk’s chaos. There’s something more sinister at work.” That should be a New York Times guest link.
- “Donald Trump enjoys massive support, but some of his voters are already turning on Elon Musk.”
Some Interesting Links
- Matt Bevan’s If You’re Listening is excellent this week, and this explains a lot. The shocking story behind Trump’s plan to “own” Gaza.
- Yes, I’m posting another Patrick Boyle, but this one contains some truly excellent snark: The Dumbest Megaprojects!.
- I remember using library music, an older term for royalty-free production music, back in the olden days. Well, watch How An Obscure 70s Genre Has DEFINED Modern Music.
- My attention has been drawn to RETROSWEAT, “The authentic 1980s freestyle aerobics workout”. They have published their music playlists.
The Week Ahead
Apart from Monday, which will have to include some shopping in Katoomba and doing the laundry, as well as posting the podcast I recorded with John Birmingham, I won’t assign specific tasks to specific days. This may seem lazy for now, but I can see a relatively wide-open calendar and a long to-do list, so I’m pretty sure I can make them work together.
It’s likely to be a big podcast-related week. I have two things to edit and post, I should lock in another special-guest episode of the Edict to meet my summer series commitments, and I need to set up the crowdfunder for the autumn series. I’m already a week behind schedule with that one.
Further Ahead
- Australian-Chinese voters’ concerns and priorities, UTS:ACRI, Sydney and online, 27 February 2025 (TBC). Something to consider before this year’s federal election.
- Podcast recording for Another Untitled Music Podcast pilot two, 8 March 2025.
There’s two more special-guest episodes of the Edict to come before the end of summer, one of which might well be about conspiracy theories like the Flat Earth.
[Photo: A view from the 13th floor of St Vincent’s Private Hospital, where I saw my cardiologist this week, featuring Harry Seidler’s Horizon Apartments, photographed on 12 February 2025.]