rout of office replies are turned on (13. 954)

Our friend folk-singer Jesse Welles, previously—courtesy of Nag on the Lake, has some thoughts on the US midterm elections now that we’ve had some time to collectively reflect on the implications of this flip in the political landscape in America unseen since the aftermath of Watergate, too big to deny—even for Trump. “Who would’ve ever thought Iran would go and change out our regime?” The rebuke was driven not just by the hostility towards Black and Brown people, the disdain for the electorate and America’s allies, the corruption and self-enrichment, the monuments to his ego, the dismantling of the administrative state, the affordability crisis exacerbated by tariffs and an unconscionable war of choice, a slate of awful candidates the president supported but also the disillusionment many sobered up to in the MAGA movement. Though their power is limited in a divided government, we hope the Democrats can deliver on a mandate that goes beyond negative partisanship (voting against rather than for) and are not just saddled with taking the blame for the messes that GOP created and perpetuate the cycle of hard swings back to the right. The US is starting to get this sorted and should be proud to have corrected course (to relief of everyone, except perhaps the puppet-masters and parasites who hang their hopes on useful idiots) but for now they are still on probation.

*    *    *    *    *

synchronoptica 

one year ago: a dystopian novella from E M Forester (with synchronoptica), flight safety and the US government shutdown, more AI blind-spots plus a compendium of English nonce words

two years ago: Germany’s coalition government faces collapse, an archive of military uniforms, America’s first Red Scare plus assorted links worth the revisit 

three years ago: Operation Able Archer (1983), Ukraine to change the date on which Christmas is observed plus a gallery of bad Jane Austen book covers

five years ago: a documentary on picking the wrong venue, a bombing in the US capitol plus the Riace bronzes

six years ago: your daily demon: Bifrons,  awaiting US election results, the collection point for cataloguing art looted by the Nazis plus the first female US vice-presidential candidate announced

seven years ago: an unused deck of tarot cards by Salvatore Dalí

eight years ago: assorted links to revisit, Nixon’s concession speech (1962) plus more from the Center for American Politics and Design

 

day two hundred forty one (13. 951)

Tehran, through Qatari intermediaries, reportedly sends a nuclear compromise to Washington for review whilst awaiting the seven original conditions as agreed in the MoU to be satisfied. The American president says that the rest of Iran may be destroyed with rebuilding taking a quarter of a century. Civil defence chief Gholamreza Jalali formulates an emergency economic plan in case of renewed Israeli-US aggression. The Revolutionary Guard asserts that any country helping or hosting American forces is a legitimate target. Midterm election results present a new calculus for the Knesset to build a coalition government, informing negotiations. Trump issues a reminder that he is still in charge, whilst Secretary of War Hegseth announces he is unimpeachable.

day two hundred forty (13. 949)

Stock markets surge and the price of oil plunges as Trump may now “be inclined” to end hostilities in Iran though the American president remains unwilling to accept defeat in his war of choice as Iran marks the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the US embassy in Tehran.

The Supreme Leader dismisses the suggestion that the seismic shift in the US political landscape signals a significant change for hostilities but the new composition of congress could have net positives for geopolitics and marks a historical overturning not seen in generations if ever, with Georgia, Florida, Nevada and Wisconsin electing Black governors, New Mexico a Native American woman, and California and Texas with more firsts for female, LGBTQ and Muslim representation and many states and polities, particularly in the Midwest, like Kansas and Ohio, and the southern Sun Belt changing parties for the first time in decades and reversals unseen since the Reconstruction Era after the civil war. Democratic leaders reflect on what the dismantling of MAGA through elections means for their agenda and way forward once the new congress is sworn in.

estado libre asociado (13. 938)

Two days after a failed attempt by nationalists to overthrow government of Puerto Rico, uprisings violently suppressed in many cities and villages by the national guard with support from military bombers which strafed the town of Jayuya, the US Secret Service faced its biggest gunfight (so far) in foiling an assassination attempt on President Harry S Truman carried out by secessionists Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola. During renovations to the White House, Truman was staying in Blair House, the official guest accommodations used for visiting heads of state. The conspirators wanted bring the world’s attention to the independence movement and how self-determination was denied, and though acknowledging that neither was a professional marksman and the plan was near suicidal, they felt that security might be laxer outside of the executive mansion. Torresola snuck up on the west side of the building while his partner Collazo went to the Pennsylvania Avenue stoop. Torresola ambushed a White House police officer at a guard booth, the two mortally wounding each other in the exchange with both he and Collazo never entering the residence. Truman had been upstairs napping during the attack. Afterwards, the American president requested that the widow of the police officer killed in the line of duty make a goodwill tour of Puerto Rico, receiving condolences from from crowds and delivering a speech that she did not blame the island’s people for the acts of the militant separatists. The surviving would-be assassin, Oscar Collazo was convicted and sentenced to death—which Truman commuted to life behind bars and eventually pardoned with time served by Jimmy Carter, returning to San Juan and advocating for autonomy and criticising US imperialism until his death in 1994. Moreover Truman acknowledged the importance of the status of Puerto Rico and supported a plebiscite less than fourteen months following his assassination attempt. Eighty-two percent of voters approved of retaining the status quo as a commonwealth, though independence was not really on the ballot, only continued free association or a return to direct rule.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links (with synchronoptica) to revisit plus St Caesarius

two years ago: more links to enjoy, research vessel R/P FLIP, Alphabet sued by Russia, character amnesia plus a fan super site on Super Mario lore 

three years ago: Three Hazel Nuts for Cinderella (1973), Hambuglar Goes to Hell plus even more links

four years ago: another penny black, assorted links to revisit plus the Word of the Year

five years ago: another Word of the Year plus a starting point to restore our burning world

six years ago: The Mask (1961), the Sistine Chapel opened to the public plus indigenous characters in comics

seven years ago: a space odyssey, World Vegan Day, more mushrooming plus Blade Runner

eight years ago: Trump activates the army to guard the border, movie ratings, an Ansel Adams’ photograph plus a bio brick

 

day two hundred thirty six (13. 936)

Ukrainian drones hit Russian Kstovo crude oil refinery, setting it ablaze, the third in as many days. Iranian foreign ministry reports that talks are ongoing with Qatari mediators to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within two days if the US cooperates, whilst Trump says negotiations are going fine and claims that he is not in much of a hurry to make a deal. The Revolutionary Guard signals its readiness to take on any offensive scenario—saying that even limited strikes risk escalation. Thousands rally in Tel Aviv urging the opposition party of Gadi Eisenkot to relent and form a coalition government with Arab parties in order to remove Netanyahu from power. Though Trump says there’s no rush to reach a settlement, renewed fighting with Tehran could be severely hampered with the loss of Israeli forces as well as by Republican defectors if GOP losses in the races cause them to split with the American president before the new congress is called into session. Palestinian farmers struggle to protect their olive harvest amid continuing attacks by settlers in the West Bank. Isolated incidents of violence and looting mar the mostly peaceful Gen Z protests across Germany.

day two hundred thirty five (13. 933)

Pope Leo XIV submits his mail-in ballot ahead of Tuesday’s US midterm elections, registered in Chicago and having voted abroad in most races according to the Illinois state board of elections. Residence begin evacuation through a safe corridor from the war-raved city of Oleshky. More tankers in the Strait of Hormuz came under fire or disabled by limpet mines as Ukrainian drones target Russia’s shadow fleet in the Black Sea. French-style cost of living rallies expected to spread to German cities amidst protests over high energy prices. Houthi drones strike Riyadh as Tehran’s foreign ministry issues a warning of “earth-shattering” consequences if US and Israel resume attacks, implicating Berlin’s above complaints about fuel costs the country in the belligerent camp.

day two hundred thirty four (13. 929)

The Revolutionary Guard reports that three tankers crossing the Strait of Hormuz have hit sea mines and catch fire as Houthi rebels claim six strikes on Saudi airports and oil fields. Iranian lawmakers urge the Supreme Leader to authorise atomic bomb development. Moscow offers to act as mediator between Tehran and Washington, if requested. France braces for potential violence for planned weekend protest rallies.

day two hundred twenty nine (13. 914)

Former US presidents and contenders offered counter-messaging to Trump’s late appeals for GOP campaigns including the Bushes tossing their support to the Democratic candidates in races in Texas and Hilary Clinton describing the American president’s renovations to the White House “looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory.” Meanwhile, Trump hints at either a massive attack to “finish the job” or reaching a deal with Tehran, presumably to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, by Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of protesters rally in France amid heightened security and police presence. IDF conducts raids of West Bank towns, subjecting dozens of Palestinian residents to field interrogation and unwarranted detention with demolition of buildings in Hebron. The battle for control of Taiz intensifies as the Muslim world strongly condemns the Houthis for targeting the holy sites of Mecca and Medina in their assault against Saudi Arabia for backing the Yemeni government forces. As many outposts in the region have been abandoned already, the US issues more warnings regarding the safety of personnel assigned overseas and Russia denies reports of having evacuated nuclear scientists from the facilities at Bushehr. Moscow and Kyiv agree to a one-city ceasefire in Oleshky at the bidding of the Pope though Melania “Be Best” Trump tries to take credit, whilst the capital continues to sustain heavy bombardment.

9x9 (13. 909)

screenage wasteland: adult children curating their senior parents’ algorithms to blunt engagement with AI slop, scams and ragebait—[archived]—via Web Curios  

menagerie: inmates care for animals at the world’s only penitentiary with a zoo in the Florida Keys—via Damn Interesting  

omnibus: an archive of the science and scifi anthology, published from 1978 to 1995—via Kottke  

epic elfie: a grateful pachyderm snaps a wide-angle photograph without the need for a selfie-stick—see also 

the battle of blythe road: a spell-hurling duel between Aleister Crowley and WB Yeats in 1900—via Strange Company  

eagle’s nest: arsonists torch Hitler’s Alpine retreat, the Kehlsteinhaus 

cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war: Palmer Luckey launches an initiative to produce genetically enhanced canines for the US military and law enforcement, reducing reliance on European kennels  

window from the house of d: a court and then a prison for wayward women informed the bohemian and queer character of Greenwich Village—see previously  

emomercial: targeted advertisement for an assumed demographic can become an unexpected catharsis

synchronoptica

one year ago: storyboarding with tarot (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth the revisit 

two years ago: AI learns to point and click, London’s mortality weekly plus the life of Boethius  

three years ago: Mole Day 

four year ago: arriving in Crete 

five years ago: your daily demon Sabnok plus more links to enjoy

six years ago: circuit judge Roy Cohn, a pretend Communist coup, more links, the beginning of the world plus an appreciation of the colour russet

seven years ago: even more links worth revisiting plus more on the far future night sky

eight years ago: the canals of Mars, swing sixties cover of Red Hot Chili Peppers, the first Russian rapper plus noteworthy files from the US National Records Archive

 

 

day two hundred twenty five (13. 903)

Alberta overwhelmingly rejects separatist agenda in a special referendum. France and Italy plan for a massive police surge to quell protests. Israel conducts airstrikes over Gaza City. Despite continuing indirect peace talks, Iran’s Supreme Leader announces that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed through the end of Trump’s term—Gulf oil exports have surpassed pre-war levels in aggregate in spite of the conflict. US Vice president Vance declines to echo Trump’s endorsement for the re-election of Netanyahu.  UK re-arrests suspects linked to the alleged terror plot on RAK Fairford as fighter jets are deployed to Saudi Arabia to counter Houthi attacks. Yemeni refugees fleeing fighting cross the Red Sea en masse for Djibouti.

8x8 (13. 902)

mba: professor calls for the abolition of business schools for wreaking society  

gravesite: death, online legacy and estate executors  

six°: the true centre of Hollywood plus plotting past and future trajectories—see also—via Waxy  

only a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun who’s trying to stop another good guy with a gun who’s jumping out of his vehicle to run and stop a bad guy with a gun who’s blasting his way into an elementary school: a vicious cycle by Kathryn Baecht  

rarebit: once the reserve of the aristocracy in Britain, rabbits became accessible to the lower classes following the Plague raised the living-standard of the working poor—see also—via tmn  

the sound of suddard: a growing collection of vintage vinyl recordings appearing nowhere else on the internet 

rented megaphones: the suspension of the Instagram “No Kings” account just prior to massive global rallies speaks to digital demonstration and trust vested in platforms—see also 

the landlord’s game: millions of iterations of Monopoly (previously) reveal the winningest strategies

synchronoptica

one year ago: Cornish custom cushions (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links to revisit 

two years ago: pivotal tech year 2004, a method for guaranteeing equal chance and distribution, a West German crime drama plus a rare Mac Tonight clip emerges 

three years ago: Bigfoot footage (1967) 

four years ago: jungle gyms of East Germany,  more spectacular images from the JWST plus Liz Truss resigns

five years ago: St Artemis of Antioch,  Play Misty for Me (1971) plus the dedication of the Sydney Opera House (1973)

six years ago: more links to enjoy, the execution of Klaus Störtebeker plus a remembrance of artist Enzo Mari

seven years ago: synthwave Star Wars,  documenting car crashes plus the end of grazing season

eight years ago: the Saturday Night Massacre,  artist Giacomo Balla plus even more links worth the revisit 

 

7x7 (13. 901)

catch me if you can: Frank Abagnale in his own words 

ultimata thule: the dark history behind that iconic daguerreotype of Edgar Allan Poe 

use case scenario: representation in AI and the overly-confident cohort of fabricated industry leaders   

fugs for peace: radical, counter-culture figure Ed Sanders  

rough cut: an hour-long workprint of Space Jam from early 1996  

signor formica: ETA Hoffman’s novella about the Italian Baroque artist Salvator Rosa, painter of witches  

super scam me: turning the tables on confidence trickers

day two hundred twenty four (13. 898)

Trump maintains that Moscow is “doing very little—if anything” to help Iran militarily. Tehran, ahead of Israeli elections, claims Netanyahu seeks to expand fighting in the region in a campaign message that scolds America and the broader world for complaining about energy prices. Retreating from five month highs marginally, the cost per barrel of diesel falls after Washington pauses sanctions on Russian exports but the stunt fails to make a dent in the price at the pump, unclear if Russia can even deliver and afford to divert from the war effort in Ukraine. Trump accuses Zelenskyy of prolonging the conflict for political gain. Fighting in Yemen rages as Houthis move to capture Taiz and air raid sirens blare across Saudi Arabia and the Egyptian parliament votes on whether to join on the side of Riyadh. Macron urges the press to make a distinction between protesters and vandals as more than twenty four hundred are arrested in France as rallies spread to Spain and Portugal over high living costs.

day two hundred twenty three (13. 893)

The US sanctions Cuban banks for financial dealings with Iran—the US secretary of state also defending the pause on the embargo for Russian diesel, arguing it will offer global price relief. Tehran denies it is behind the Houthi insurgency in Yemen and attacks on Riyadh and has repeatedly offered to mediate talks with Saudi Arabia as a reconnaissance helicopter is downed in Najran and drones strike eastern provinces. Ahead of Monday’s independence referendum, a major fire breaks out at a military base in Alberta as Carney accuses Washington of trying to break Canada. A series of drone attacks on ships in the Black Sea bring war closer to NATO coastlines. Protests continue across France with looting and arson and thousands of arrest as students demonstrate against quality of educational opportunities, cost of living, the historic town hall of Limoges set ablaze. Ukraine hits oil facilities in the port of St Petersburg as Russia continues to target bridges and roads in Kyiv.

aăâ (13. 863)

Originally started as a Spiritualist club (with the above cipher, the first three letters of the alphabet) by a group of clerks working for the colonial government to hold ouija sessions and practise mediumship, within a year, whilst conducting a séance, members received a revelatory message heralding a future universal religion, leading to the formal founding of Caodaism (Đại Đạo Tam Kỳ Phổ Độ, The Great Faith for the Third Universal Religion) on this day in 1926—a syncretic movement that incorporates the ethical precepts of Confucianism, the belief of karma and transmigration of Buddhism, Taoist duality and the centralised hierarchy of Catholicism. The first disciple, named first pope Ngô Văn Chiêu for the Holy See in Tây Ninh, declined the role as spiritual leader, never intending for his interest and study in the occult to become a mass movement—retiring to the countryside for a life of seclusion and the first pontiff accepting the job only agreeing to do so provided he be referred to as the Acting Pope for the duration of his reign. The three saints and prophets of Đức Cao Đài are counted as Sun Yat-sen, physician and revolutionary who founded the Kuomintang and lead to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty, Nguyễn Bỉnh Khiêm, sixteenth century poet and government administrator, later revered as the oracle of the splinter faction known as the School of Teaching Goodness and author Victor Hugo, whose turn to spiritism and deism after retiring from writing and self-imposed exile on the Channel Islands informed much of doctrines of Caodaism. Banned during the French-Indochina war and during Communism as subversive to the state, the church was finally allowed to reconstitute itself in 1997 in Vietnam, practised by the diaspora and numbering around six-million adherents.

 

synchronoptica

one year ago: the dilemma of the video age (with synchronoptica) plus an iconic photo booth

 

two years ago: Suddenly plus more boating adventures 

 

three years ago: more hikes through the vineyards plus Hamas attacks Israel 

 

four years ago:  absinthe banned in Switzerland, the Feast of Sergius and Bacchus plus assorted links to revisit

five years ago: a cool ghoul and your ghost host, the Cyrus Charter, a bird wife plus a catalogue of invasive toys

 

six years ago: most senior US government officials in quarantine,  a typing tutor, a birdhouse apartment plus more historic maps

 

seven years ago: a minimum wage machine

 

eight years ago: more links to check out, East Germany’s Tag der Republik, a visit to an automotive and aviation museum plus himpathy and related neologisms

 

day two hundred ten (13. 852)

Hegseth announces that US troops will get a day off to call their in the upcoming midterms—federal workers are granted up to three hours of administrative leave (down from four hours) whilst the rest of the voting public do not receive any allowance to exercise their democratic right. Pressure mounts for another referendum in the UK to annul Brexit and rejoin the EU as polls reveal over half of voters of all political persuasion support reentry into the single market. Russian airstrikes on bridges in Kyiv causes traffic chaos, whilst Putin attempts to convince the world that NATO is about to impose a blockade on Kaliningrad. Students in Paris riot over planned cuts to the education budget. Pope Leo puts out a missive in Latin as a withering takedown of AI. El Niño causes massive flooding in Thailand, the waters not receding and turning the streets of Bangkok into stagnant lakes, with speculation that the weather formation may mean there is no hurricane season in the Atlantic this year. More tankers are attached in the Strait of Hormuz. Revolutionary Guards spokesperson says that Tehran’s weapons-building capacities are fully restored and have reached maturity, in accordance with operational requirements, whilst the South Pars gasfield achieves peak production. Market analyst recognise Trump’s pressuring of G7 members to release strategic diesel reserves as a mere delay tactic which may provide temporary, nominal relief (if at all) and fails to address underlying structural problems and further erodes consumer confidence. IDF continues to terrorise Gaza, the West Bank and neighbours in southern Lebanon.

day two hundred one (13. 827)

France pledges to send fighters to Saudi Arabia to help repel Houthi rebels as other members of the alliance, Türkiye and Pakistan, join for an emergency military planning meeting . US sanctions on the entire industry force Iran to cancel some international flights. Tehran’s hardliners express anger and disappointment with Araqchi over meeting directly with Witkoff to layout terms for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz while Pezeshkian says Iran wants America to return to the MoU before the midterm elections. Thousands of demonstrators protest the arrival of Netanyahu and the Israeli delegation in New York, calling for his arrest as a war criminal, causing the prime minister to fly home directly after his short speech to the UN. A judge orders that banned news outlets’ access to the White House to be restored as Trump hosts Xi for a lavish state dinner with tech CEOs.

don’t wait, regulate (13. 810)

Courtesy of Dangerous Minds, we learn that earlier this week in Warsaw, a group of around thirty bipedal humanoids along with a few quadrupedal robot dogs staged a protest on behalf of their minders demanding that the government take up legislation to place curbs on AI and automation to ease the transition, encourage public debate and lessen the potential disruptive impact for the jobs market. The rally took place on the streets in front of the Ministry of Digital Affairs (Ministerstwo Cyfryzaccji, founded originally in 2015, declared defunct in 2020 and reestablished in 2023, and its head, deputy prime minister under the Tusk government, Krzysztof Gawkowski came down to meet with the chanting participants, saying his department was drafting laws and got into a debate with a robot that the current motion before parliament had insufficient protections for workers from redundancy. Bills pending passage also would mandate the use of sandboxes for more rigorous safety testing before release and alerting the public to possible breaches of containment, the protests occurring as global attention is focused on the potential for AI to precipitate an existential calamity.

synchronoptica

one year ago: Politically Incorrect (with synchronoptica) plus assorted links worth the revisit

two years ago: the Oscars of US government workers, getting to philosophy, Israel attacks Hezbollah with booby-trapped walkie-talkies plus sinkholes and megaslumps 

three years ago: spinning bowls of ramen 

four years ago: covering the Queen’s funeral,  cats stealing food in still lifes plus a singular Cyrillic glyph

five years ago: Fawlty Towers, a vintage flash comic, a collection of mixology guides, Ötzi discovered (1991) plus a Soviet Moon mission

six years ago: a warning label for explicit lyrics plus RIP RBG

seven years ago: the art of knolling, the music of Eisbær plus reducing plastic waste in fast food take-aways

eight years ago: a Hieronymus Bosch demonic fowl on the subway, guillotine earrings,  proto emoticons, more Universal Everything plus the Cassandra Syndrome

 

twa 355 (13. 780)

Hijacked on this day in 1976, the domestic flight from LaGuardia to O’Hare in Chicago was taken by a group of five Fighters for Free Croatia to further the independence movement of the constituent state from Yugoslavia. Halfway into the flight, the hijackers stormed the cockpit and directed the plane to Montreal’s Mirabel airport, allowed to refuel after telling authorities that a bomb had been planted in a locker at New York’s Grand Central Station and issued instructions on how to locate and disarm it. Further the group group demanded an appeal for the movement be printed in major American newspapers. The plane was flown to Gander, Newfoundland where an air traffic controller negotiated for the release of thirty-five passengers. Refused permission to land by the UK government in London, the aircraft touched down in Keflavík before traveling to Paris where the hijackers surrendered after talks with US ambassador Kenneth Rush. America writer and activist Julienne Bušić, married to the operation’s mastermind Zvonko Bušić, was hugged by the pilot for her help in keeping the passengers calm during the whole ordeal. Although a New York police officer was killed attempting to dismantle rather than detonate the explosive device planted at the train terminal, the devices on board the airplane were discovered to be fakes. The group of five were sentenced to long terms in prison, minimum of thirty years, for conspiracy to commit aircraft piracy and for the death of the police officer (Julienne Bušić served her time in a correctional facility in Dublin, California along with cellmate Squeaky Fromme, whom was reassigned after several incidents of violence perpetrated by Fromme), though eventually all were remanded to parole in an independent Croatia.

synchronoptica

one year ago: assorted links worth revisiting (with synchronoptica), a posturepedic bed, AI can’t do clocks plus Russian threatens Finland’s sovereignty 

two years ago: more links to enjoy

three years ago: even more assorted links  

four years ago: Hey Jude (1968), links to enjoy, more telling the bees plus more even more links to revisit

five years ago: St Aubert, the ecological importance of oyster-beds, comparable to coral reefs plus even more links worth revisiting

six years ago: the largest basilica in the world, artist Marianne von Werefkin, a devastating earthquake in Constantinople (1509), the original and the reprised Fresh Prince, burning skies plus Hongkonger neologisms

 

 

😱 (13. 778)

In a fascinating panel discussion with the hosts of Tiny Matters, Helen Zaltzman’s latest episode of the Allusionist presents a thoroughgoing historical, linguistic and cultural survey of our concept of phobias, now defined as an anxiety disorder characterised by a persistent and irrational fear of an encounter or a situation.Although first described in detail and subject to clinical diagnosis since the Middle Ages, likely first Persian polymath Abu Zayd al-Balkhi who accurately attributed them to a psychological imbalance that manifests itself with physical symptoms like trembling, fainting or paleness, their debut in common-parlance during the Enlightenment came thanks to the correspondence that American revolutionary, founding father, social justice advocate and physician Benjamin Rush had with Dr Diederik Janssen of the University of Maastricht in 1786, the pair of letters half-humorously (in the same spirit of the fanciful books of venery that gave us collective terms like a murmuration of starlings), half in earnest explores specific phobias and manias that give us the modern, if informal, sense of aversion and affection as suffixes, though without the double-barrelled Greek binomials. Whereas in Rush’s day phobic disorders were used to describe diseases—like hydrophobia, the old name for rabies, for the avoidance that late-stage patience displayed for drinking water, those messages helped inspire others to name dread and panic in a clinical manner with Victorian interest in psychotherapy becoming recognised and wide spread over the ensuing decades, hitting at just the right time. Being able to name something can be a gateway to healing, community and sympathy. The legacy of word play however also gave rise to non-medical and political use as in xenophobia and transphobes, which really have nothing to do with a debilitating fear of anything and are rather euphemistic attempts to categorise unjustified bigotry and discrimination and to trivial uses, both in making light of those with serious conditions in hyperbolic empathy and a profusion of -phobias that cause little to no distress. Do give the show a listen and discover a myriad of others at the website up top.