iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

This is a great opportunity for anyone wanting to get a foot in the door in journalism. Please share with anyone you think might be interested in working @economist.com www.economist.com/britain/2026...

economist.com

The Economist’s digital-journalism internship

We are offering two year-long, paid placements

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

“We saw that it [dementia] was not only a late-life disease that can’t be prevented, but more of a process that starts in mid-life with the possibilities to at least slow the progression,” says Miia Kivipelto of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. 3/

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Whereas 40 years ago three in every ten Americans aged 85-89 had dementia, by 2024 just one in ten had it...Between 1988 and 2015 the share of older people being diagnosed with dementia fell by 13% a decade across six countries in North America and Europe 2/

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

This week I wrote in The Economist about the incredible progress that we have been making against dementia. Though total numbers are rising (because we are living longer), the actual rate at every age has been coming down sharply for decades. A short 🧵

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Reduced immigration will have huge consequences for US demography. Fascinating map by @brookings.edu

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

I agree that SAFE is an important step towards improving European security. I also think it was a mistake for EU countries (really France) imposed such onerous conditions that the UK did not join the initiative.

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

Opening Pandora’s box: This week in @economist.com I wrote about how the old nuclear order, underpinned by America, is collapsing and that in a might-makes-right world, many countries may conclude that only nukes can keep them safe www.economist.com/leaders/2026...

economist.com

How to think about new risks of nuclear proliferation

In a might-makes-right world, many countries may conclude that only nukes can keep them safe

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 27/01/2026

Amazing how voters on the right, who might have been expected to be supportive of defence, are actually the most squishy on this issue. www.thetimes.com/article/fb20...

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

I had great privilege of working with two talented colleagues who made the article so much better. Thank you @hollieberman.bsky.social and @suelinwong.bsky.social

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

These changes have freed untold numbers of people from unhappy unions. For women, especially, being able to choose to stay single is the great emancipation of our age. But there are also many "involuntary singles". Deep dive into changes in the dating market ⬇️5/5 www.economist.com/briefing/202...

economist.com

All over the rich world, fewer people are hooking up and shacking up

Social media, dating apps and political polarisation all play a part

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

There are many reasons for this, ranging from the shock of the pandemic (it wasn't easy to date if all the bars were closed) to increased use of digital devices (more time spent on Netflix, less on chill) and structural shifts including the opening of university doors and workplaces to women. 4/

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

In Europe each new generation is less likely to be married or living with a partner than previous ones at the same age (see chart). 3/

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

The share of people living alone (not with a spouse or partner, though they could be with friends or other family-members) has increased in 26 out of 30 countries in the OECD. In America 41% of women and 50% men aged 25-34 were single in 2023, a share that has doubled over the past five decades. 2/

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

For this week's issue of @economist.com I got to think hard about something I've not had to think about for more than 20 years: the world of dating and singles. What I found shocked me. Rates of singlehood (singledom) have been rising for decades, but have suddenly accelerated in recent years. 1/

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Henry Mance @henrymance.ft.com · 09/10/2025

Great piece. The only thing I worry about is that cycling (esp ebike hires) replace bus/ metro journeys, not car trips, and thereby worsen the economics of public transport without changing streets much. But hopefully I am wrong @dlknowles.bsky.social

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Though bike lanes take up less than 2% of road space in Montreal (cars get 80% and pedestrians the balance), they are a hot issue in its mayoral election on November 2nd. Soraya Martinez Ferrada, the leading opposition candidate, wants to pause new bike lanes and remove some if the cause anxiety 4/

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

In London cyclists now outnumber cars in the City, the financial district, by two to one. Paris, where they now outnumber motorists across the whole city, is catching up with Europe’s traditional bike capitals, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. 3/

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Though robotaxis have notched up impressive growth, they look ploddingly pedestrian compared with e-bikes. Waymo proclaims that its cars do around 250,000 trips a week. Yet in New York alone that number of trips is made every three days using the city’s bike-share scheme. 2/

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

Forget EVs. Cycling is revolutionising transport This week we have a change of pace in the International pages of @economist.com we have a great piece by @dlknowles.bsky.social where he takes a look at how pedal power is booming around the world, but also spinning up a new culture war. 1/

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Gibby @thegibbon.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

The stuff in the Baltic isn't really getting the traction over here it might. We're currently doing seabed surveys off Gdansk in Poland but have lost well over a week now to GPS jamming and spoofing originating in Kaliningrad making the vessel's systems show it as being off Sweden.

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Crikey. That sounds worrying. I was aware of the GPS spoofing in the region and its effect on aircraft, but had not given much thought to the impact on precision navigation that is required for other things like the work you are doing.

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Good question. I would think it is that he sees an opportunity and is pushing limits.

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

A long battle lies ahead. Shadow fleets surged after the war in Ukraine began, but they are likely to outlive it, having exposed the weakness of maritime governance. “I don’t think the genie is going back into the bottle,” says one expert 3/3 www.economist.com/internationa...

economist.com

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Estonia's navy is at the frontline. It sometimes tracks dozens of shadow fleet vessels a day. But for its small fleet of MCM and patrol vessels, chasing tankers is“like smaller dogs trying to get to the big dog”, says a sailor involved in a pursuit earlier this year. 2/3

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 06/10/2025

Russia's grey-zone conflict against the West is escalating at sea as well as in the air, as evident in drone incursions in Denmark and a the boarding of Boracay by France This week in @economist.com we look at the threat posed by Russia's shadow fleet, and NATO efforts to counter it. A short 🧵 1/3

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Come on @crisisgroup.org You have chosen to hold a discussion on the New Middle Eastern order on the one day in the year (Yom Kippur) that pretty much all Jews will be unable to attend. I don’t believe you deliberately intended to exclude Jews, but that’s what you’ve done.

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 17/08/2025

America’s new plan to fight a war with China economist.com/internationa... This week’s International section in The Economist.

economist.com

America’s new plan to fight a war with China

Readying for a rumble in the jungle

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 12/08/2025

"Worse than showing indifference, many Israelis deny the clear realities: that Gaza is in chaos and teetering on the edge of widespread starvation, and that Israel has played a major role in bringing about this terrible state." This is worth reading www.nytimes.com/2025/08/12/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | The Reasons Israelis Have Closed Their Eyes to Gaza

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

I'm writing this week on the crisis in international law and have just come across the most spectacular example of judicial activism (in an ICJ case), where in two paragraphs a judge explains that he voted for something, even though he thinks it has no basis in law. www.icj-cij.org/sites/defaul...

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Thank you.

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 30/07/2025

I've been reporting on the rising jihadist threat to the Sahel and Horn of Africa since 2014, and how it has spread to Mozambique and Congo. As the trends were getting worse, I hoped governments in the region and Western backers could turn the tide. Instead the slide continues.

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Does Japan have a battlegroup stationed in the Baltics? Has Japan committed its nuclear deterrent (not that it has one) to Nato and European defence? The point is for France to grow up and to treat the UK as an equal partner on European security.

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

Right now, that's besides the point. I wish they hadn't, but we are here now. Are you going to compromise European security today because of a vote in 2016?

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

I’m a remainer but the reality is the UK won’t come back in for decades. So given where we are, does the EU want a genuine partnership on security or does it want to treat the UK no differently than Japan? If UK is treated like Japan, which doesn’t contribute to European security, why should UK?

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

That is exactly the point. The UK and the EU have an interest in co-operating on common defence. But France’s demands place its own industry above common security. Either this is a co-operative endeavour or it is zero-sum. You can’t have one side being zero-sum while expecting co-operation.

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

I’m completely in favour of closer EU defence co-operation and procurement, but if France wants to insist that the UK pay a % on all contracts to UK companies, then we should start charging the EU a fee for our contribution to collective security (and France for fishing our waters).

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Lessons from Ukraine "Innovation does play a role…but quantity has a quality of its own. Mass is not going anywhere. We need to adopt and adapt faster than our adversaries, but that does not replace the need for us to outproduce them on ammunition: Benedetta Berti, Director, Policy Planning, NATO

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Re Ukraine's battle experience, General Hodges says: Most Nato countries could not meet Ukraine’s standard for combat readiness. I would be willing to bet that in about 10 years Ukraine will be the centre of European defence industry in Europe - Hodges at #CHLondon conference 5/

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

"We have not seriously tried to help Ukraine this war. Their favourite vehicle is the Bradly, which entered service about the same time I did." Gen Hodges 4/

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Re Russia and NATO: “Our air and missile defence is completely inadequate to protect our transportation infrastructure…We should prepare for air and missile attacks against our ports (referring to ports in Europe essential to a NATO response)” - General Hodges

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Jonathan Rosenthal @journalistjon.bsky.social · 19/06/2025

Hodges also makes an interesting comment on one of the uncertainties of a US intervention in Iran: There is no way that General Kurrila (CENTCOM) would guarantee that that 30,000lb bomb would make it to the sweet spot inside that mountain. 2/

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