Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 08/03/2026Sad and troubled to see buildings near Glasgow Central in flames. Already huge losses, but I hope the statiom survives. So many paths of my life have passed through that junction. 140
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 01/03/2026At times like this, I watch Aljazeera, which is currently doing an exclusive interview with Iran’s foreign minister. 010
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 27/02/2026“I know the idea that the next UK General Election will be primarily a battle between the Greens and Reform seems far-fetched, but I think it would be wise to act now as if that could be the case.” open.substack.com/pub/jonathan... 020
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 27/02/2026“The populist parties can also be seen as post-technocratic parties with vision, whether or not you like the visions on offer.” I wrote about populism in the context of the Greens winning last night. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...open.substack.comPopulism is Not a Four Letter Word.What does the Green Party's success and momentum mean? 020
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 20/12/2025More than a year old now but if you want an overview or what’s happening in the world there are worse places to start. 110
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 01/12/2025“St Andrew’s Day is a construction, but not an illusion, because Scotland is a nation, and nations are real. More to the point, nations have a certain kind of reality that is worth attending to today, and every day.” open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...open.substack.comA Nation is a SoulOn feeling surprisingly inspired by St. Andrew's Day. 010
Reposted by Jonathan RowsonGraham Caswell @grahamcaswell.bsky.social · 13/11/2025"The message that jumps out above all others is that previous IPCC reports, going back to 1990, have not been heeded. Where is the report on that? Because that’s the one we really need." 001
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 13/11/2025With COP 30 👮♂️ underway in Brazil, I thought I’d better write something about climate change. open.substack.com/pub/perspect...open.substack.comDancing with a Permanent EmergencyWhy a proper understanding of climate change leads to metaphysics.* 020
Reposted by Jonathan RowsonErik Haines @integralrising.bsky.social · 04/11/2025Interesting development & substack post by @jonathanrowson.bsky.social. open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...open.substack.comToo much metatheory will kill you, just as sure as none at all.On the danger of buying a pet shop shop shop 011
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 09/06/2025“Perhaps I should set aside all this heady stuff, ever yielding to the mind’s compulsions? I am told I should BREATHE, and get back into the body. It’s not clear what happens next, and I’m not supposed to ask…” open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...open.substack.comFlirting with Modernity(3)The juggernaut that separates time and space 241
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 04/05/2025“In a world that can seem shallow, chess meets a longing for depth. In a world that can feel lonely and confusing, chess offers the experience of shared meaning and mattering. In a world of shrill whataboutery, chess offers rule-bound intellectual clarity.” open.substack.com/pub/grandmas...open.substack.comGrandmaster Chess TherapyHow to get beyond winning and losing while still winning more than losing 🙃 282
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 20/04/2025If someone invites you to dinner and says “no gifts”, “please don’t bring anything apart from yourself” do you take them literally, or bring something anyway? 200
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 19/04/2025“I turned 48 yesterday. Forty-eight. When put that way, it sounds Biblical. I am not quite feeding the five thousand, nor am I one of the twelve disciples, but I am now implicated in the declaration that forty people shared a meal.” open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...open.substack.comA Happy BirthdayTurning 48 at Easter. French Zebras. The Back Room. KT Tunstall. Sushi and Sake. Minimal Viable Parenting. Midlife Mellows. 130
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 31/03/2025I know I’m a bit late to this, but I’ve started watching The Sopranos… 040
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 28/03/2025If you’re struggling in any way, and the rain just came on, this Annie Lennox rendition of her Eurythmics classic: *Here Comes the Rain Again*, live from New York, always “falls on my head like a new emotion..” And might be timely for someone… 🌧️🥲😔🙂🥹🙂🤪🙃🌧️🌈 music.youtube.com/watch?v=TB0E...music.youtube.comAnnie Lennox - Here Comes The Rain Again ( Live In Central Park )YouTube video by Themagicplayer 431
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 18/03/2025Since the USA now faces a full blown “constitutional crisis” and we’ll all be hearing this term a lot, I thought it might help to reflect on what crisis means. (From *Prefixing the World*: open.substack.com/pub/perspect... ) 143
Reposted by Jonathan RowsonAlastair McIntosh @alastairmci.bsky.social · 17/03/2025Important & widely relevant on the mass demonstrations in Serbia from @jonathanrowson.bsky.social: "What do all these people want? The real demand is terrifying for those in power: "Can you please ensure that our institutions work as they are supposed to?" jonathanrowson.substack.com/p/whats-happ...jonathanrowson.substack.comWhat's Happening in Serbia?Democratic Inspiration, and the Social Contract of The Upside Down 05513
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 08/03/2025Trump is not a Russian asset in the same way that Trump is not a fascist. He is authoritarian and he is working for Russia. But he is a unique case, sui generis, so these conventional terms don’t ring true. The key is not to label, but to disclose as precisely as possible what is happening. 191
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 06/03/2025I’ve discovered a hitherto unsuspected connection between the stag and the potato. 210
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 02/03/2025Perhaps the issue is not so much that Trump is a Russian asset (though he might be) or is on Russia’s side as such(though he seems to be). It seems as likely that if your perception is plutocratic, amoral and transactional, Russia’s way of thinking and acting is relatively syntonic to work with. 130
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 28/02/2025NATO is a zombie alliance. If the point of NATO is for Europe to have back up from the US if Russia attacks, but the US is no more on Europe’s side than Russia’s, then NATO makes no sense. Ukraine is Europe and Europe will have to protect itself. 181
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 27/02/2025I’m not a huge fan of Keir Starmer in general, but I felt proud of the way he appears to have handled his meeting with Donald Trump today. I felt he played a difficult hand very well. 030
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 19/02/2025Enjoyed a couple of days off in Cambridge - “the other place”. 150
Reposted by Jonathan RowsonJonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 17/02/2025What does it mean to me to be British, while also being a “Scottish Londoner” ? I enjoyed this chat with Layman Pascal of The Integral Stage, which includes reflections on the 2014 Scottish referendum and broader geopolitical issues. youtu.be/2Q2dMzVe5WE?...youtu.beMy Kind of Country (Ep. 7: Jonathan Rowson)YouTube video by The Integral Stage 021
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 17/02/2025The talk of security guarantees for Ukraine seems, sadly, bogus. In light of the failure of the Budapest memorandum I don’t understand how America could ever trust Russia. In light of Trump/Vance Europe can’t now trust America. And in light of fickle electorates, Ukraine can’t trust anyone… 🇺🇦russia.in 030
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 17/02/2025What does it mean to me to be British, while also being a “Scottish Londoner” ? I enjoyed this chat with Layman Pascal of The Integral Stage, which includes reflections on the 2014 Scottish referendum and broader geopolitical issues. youtu.be/2Q2dMzVe5WE?...youtu.beMy Kind of Country (Ep. 7: Jonathan Rowson)YouTube video by The Integral Stage 021
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 16/02/2025Amusing. The glitch is that while Greenland is part of Denmark and Denmark is part of the EU, Greenland is not part of the EU, but merely has an “overseas countries and territories” associative relationship with the EU. Moreover, Canada’s CETA with the EU is already a very close trading relationship 051
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 16/02/2025Since the US is relinquishing allies, here’s a silly idea: Greenland is technically Danish, not EU but has OCT; and since Hans Island is a land border between Canada and Greenland, would it not be *fitting* for Canada to leave CUSMA, join Europe’s single market and become an EU associate member? 🙃 160
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 16/02/2025Heartened by this speech by Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius, which appears to be a direct response to JD Vance. Colonial history and Brexit notwithstanding, I love Europe, and it is now up to Europeans to protect what we love. youtu.be/n0qlKwHi2VM?...youtu.beGermany's Pistorius SLAMS US JD Vance's Controversial Remarks at Munich Security Conference 2025!YouTube video by EU Debates | eudebates.tv 060
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 15/02/2025I know it’s complicated, and I don’t mean any personal offence to Americans, but in light of Vance’s speech in Munich and Trump’s chumminess with Putin and plans for Ukraine, I hope Europe (including the UK) can quickly find the optimal way to tell the new USA administration to f*** off. 4172
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 13/02/2025Thinking about forming a WhatsApp group with the rules that everyone can leave a daily voice note whenever they feel like screaming in exasperation at the world and nobody is obliged to listen or respond. It’s just a place to scream that lets you know that others are screaming too. Good idea? 😱 260
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 09/02/2025Saw Kyoto tonight in London. It’s a play about the beginning of the UN climate regime from c1990 to 1997 when the Kyoto protocol was agreed. Most of the drama and comedy is about the construction of inertia. It’s excellent, Intense, funny, gripping. 050
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 05/02/2025Lots of people are asking if Trump meant what he said, but very few are asking what it would mean for Trump to mean something, which is a much more difficult question. 140
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 28/01/2025Thanks Daniel, I hope you find some soul food in there! 031
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 20/01/2025I’m thinking of my brother who would have turned fifty today. For those who knew Mark, and his “King of the Castle” tendencies that I mention in this tribute, there is something fitting about the fact that he shares a birthday with incoming US presidents. 🙃 🥹 open.substack.com/pub/jonathan...open.substack.comThe Whole of the MoonA tribute to my brother Mark, who died two years ago today 140
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 13/01/2025“Arsonist” seems quite an appropriate term for Elon Musk. 020
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 13/01/2025A niche grumble. Is the increasingly widespread EE wifi provision in the UK having the perverse effect of leading people to use more data? The WiFi interferes and doesn’t always work, so you turn off wifi but then you forget to turn it on at home/office and use more data than your otherwise would. 010
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 10/01/2025I’ve been listening to Rory Stewart’s political memoir and just finished this morning. I had high expectations. It’s generally very good. He has chosen the “show don’t tell” strategy, but I was hoping for deeper analysis of sclerosis and delusion and grew weary of the accents and the biscuits. 110
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 08/01/2025I just noticed that my talk on "Two Kinds of Spiritual Bypassing" for The Scientific and Medical Network is online. It is dangerous to seek spiritual solutions to psychological and political problems, but it is no less dangerous to ignore spiritual matters entirely. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcm7...youtube.comJonathan Rowson – Two Kinds of Spiritual BypassingYouTube video by Scientific and Medical Network 020
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 07/01/2025Noticing loose talk about Canada and/or Greenland becoming part of the USA. Is this: A) A joke B) A threat C) A distraction D) Something else (pls explain) 320
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 06/01/2025On the way home to London. Enjoying the snow capped vistas of Goatfell in Arran, as seen on the train from Troon to Glasgow. Snow is always a kind of magic. 050
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 03/01/2025Bye for noo, Aberdeen. And thanks for the snow. Off to see my mum in Troon. 030
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 01/01/2025Glad to be back in my home town of Aberdeen. I lived here from roughly 0-10 and 12-19. My dad and extended family still live here. I usually visit every year but had forgotten how beautiful it can be. Today I walked roughly three miles from King street to Union Grove via Union Street. 181
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 31/12/2024At this time of year, when we all wish each other happiness, it seems timely to share my New York Times opinion piece from five years ago called: *We don’t actually want to be happy* 🙃 www.nytimes.com/2019/11/04/o...nytimes.comOpinion | We Don’t Actually Want to Be Happy (Published 2019)Chess helps answer the perennial human question, “What should I do next?” 111
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 31/12/2024I just passed through Edinburgh on the way from London to Aberdeen to be with my dad for the bells. 🔔 🥃 I had half an hour between trains so peeped up to street level to capture Scotland’s capital in all her seasonal splendour. 🏴 ❤️ Happy New Year 🥳 070
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 31/12/2024I am not close to the history/details of Jimmy Carter’s Presidency, so could well be wrong, but I have the impression he might be a case study of a politician many say they want (honest about complexity) but fewer admire as a politician (did not offer easy answers and did not know how to use power). 020
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 27/12/2024Overheard in Putney: “Come and sit down. It’s not the time for tasty treats.” 000
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 26/12/2024The day after Christmas is such a relief that I’m celebrating with what is left in the fridge. It would be a shame to let it go to waste. Here’s to making the most of the next 300+ days or so before it all kicks off again 🥂 #boxingday 180
Jonathan Rowson @jonathanrowson.bsky.social · 22/12/2024“One-off my many fantasies is to write a book about sauna conversations…” open.substack.com/pub/jonathan... 000