Sean Thomas

Göbekli Tepe, Karakoçan

Contributor at The Spectator

Thriller writer, travel writer, vacillator

Articles

Midwit machines are destroying thinking

4 days ago | spectator.co.uk | Sean Thomas

First, a confession. Sometimes I go on a super-geeky site for dedicated weather watchers. It’s probably because I am quite manic depressive – and British – and definitely because I adore warmth and despise dank. That means I can be tipped into doom by anti-cyclonic gloom or lifted into ecstasy by a decent heatwave.
The wild optimism of a young society

2 weeks ago | spectator.co.uk | Sean Thomas

There’s a strange, near-psychedelic effect that hits you when you travel from an ageing country to a young one. It’s not in the buildings – although the buildings may be new and hastily tiled – and it’s not necessarily in the politics, culture or economic vibe. No, the shock is more human, and intimate. It is in the faces. And the noise. And the nappies. I’ve just returned from a few weeks in Central Asia: Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan.
David Lammy and the trouble with foreign taxis

3 weeks ago | spectator.co.uk | Sean Thomas

After decades on the road, I’ve collected a few rules that have served me well. Rule one: always go inside a cathedral. However dull, tiny or ugly it may seem, it will always tell you something. Even if that something is ‘avoid this town.’ Rule two: pack condiments wherever you go. I recommend Tabasco, soy, sriracha, and salt and pepper grinders – they can save the blandest meal. Lord Byron did this, so you’re in good company.
When it comes to cheese, I’m Eurocentric

1 month ago | spectator.co.uk | Sean Thomas

There are many reasons to like Kyrgyzstan. It has extraordinarily lovely women: some mad collision of Persian, Turkish, Russian, Mongol and Chinese genes makes for supermodels at every bus stop. It is safe, friendly, cheap. Its cities are commonly free of rubbish and graffiti (how does Central Asia do this, yet we cannot?). Despite these charms, it has few tourists. However, I can’t say anything positive about the cheese – because the cheese is dreck.
My battle to avoid boredom

1 month ago | spectator.co.uk | Sean Thomas

Four days ago I was so bored that I considered starting a terrorist groupuscule. I had no demands, no ideology, no manifesto. I just wanted directionless chaos. I even got as far as ChatGPTing ‘How to start a violent movement’ before realising all movements require meetings. And meetings are dull. You may think I’m exaggerating. But the truth is, I have a lifelong fear of boredom.
My battle to avoid boredom

1 month ago | spectator.com.au | Sean Thomas

Four days ago I was so bored that I considered starting a terrorist groupuscule. I had no demands, no ideology, no manifesto. I just wanted directionless chaos. I even got as far as ChatGPTing ‘How to start a violent movement’ before realising all movements require meetings. And meetings are dull.
Are we too stupid for democracy?

1 month ago | spectator.co.uk | Sean Thomas

In 1906, Sir Francis Galton observed a crowd at a country fair in Plymouth attempting to guess the weight of an ox. Nearly 800 people participated – from butchers and farmers to busy fishwives. Galton, ever the measurer of men and beasts, gathered the guesses and calculated their average. The result was startling: the crowd’s collective estimate came within one pound of the actual weight.
Flawed women are hot

1 month ago | spectator.co.uk | Sean Thomas

Text size Small Medium Large Line Spacing Compact Normal Spacious Comments Think how many times you’ve seen the ‘Mona Lisa’. You’ve seen her in movies, in books, in cartoons; you’ve seen her as icon of female beauty, as an emblem of feminine mystique, as a commentary on the male gaze, or an amusing face on which to paint a moustache. But in all that time I bet 94 per cent of you have never noticed: she hasn’t got any eyebrows. It is, however, true – go look again. La Gioconda is eyebrowless....
What’s wrong with eating horse?

1 month ago | spectator.com.au | Sean Thomas

There’s not much to do in Almaty, Kazakhstan. You can take a peek at the pretty wooden Orthodox cathedral, which is possibly the world’s third tallest wooden building, and erected without nails around 1904. You could visit the site of Leon Trotsky’s house, where he lived in internal Soviet exile from 1928 to 1929.
What’s wrong with eating horse?

1 month ago | spectator.co.uk | Sean Thomas

There’s not much to do in Almaty, Kazakhstan. You can take a peek at the pretty wooden Orthodox cathedral, which is possibly the world’s third tallest wooden building, and erected without nails around 1904. You could visit the site of Leon Trotsky’s house, where he lived in internal Soviet exile from 1928 to 1929. However the house itself has vanished, replaced by the Luckee Yu Chinese restaurant, a chic European ‘cheeseria’, and the Caspian University branch of Starbucks.

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sean thomas knox @thomasknox

9 May 25

Another extraordinary poll

Hugo Gye @HugoGye

🚨 REFORM TAKES 10-POINT LEAD IN NEW POLL 🚨 @BMGResearch survey for @theipaper shows: Reform 32% Labour 22% Tories 19% Lib Dems 13% Greens 9% BMG's Rob Struthers says: "Some polls make you do a double-take. This is one of them."

sean thomas knox @thomasknox

9 May 25

RT @HugoGye: 🚨 REFORM TAKES 10-POINT LEAD IN NEW POLL 🚨 @BMGResearch survey for @theipaper shows: Reform 32% Labour 22% Tories 19% Lib De…

sean thomas knox @thomasknox

8 May 25

The UK electorate is greeting the Indian Trade Deal with maximum enthusiasm