Each Monday, Alister and Meridyth deliver quick news and interesting stories from the past week to prepare you for the “water cooler” banter, while also squabbling over a topical issue.
Alister is your classic Labour champion with a “dad joke” like humour. Meridyth (an American expat) brings a transatlantic, moderate take with eye-rolling groans.
ALISTER: The GP gave me anti-gloating cream. MERIDYTH: Huh? Is that a thing? ALISTER: I can’t wait to rub it in. MERIDYTH: 🙄
ALISTER: High street sales have fallen for 12 straight months. Not surprising given how unattractive and low quality a lot of the high street is these days. Let’s digitalise and modernise the high streets, make it an experience again. Use govt subsidies to help them adapt, not just exist.
MERIDYTH: Adapt, fine. But people don’t fall in love with apps. They fall in love with the café that knows their order. Shops keep closing at rapid rates and each closure chips away at community. Efficiency won’t bring that back charm, but human connections will.
ALISTER: I love my local coffee shop because it has a human connection. They also use the latest tech for payments and support from the council. Overall retail sales in Aug rose 3.1% vs last year showing the sector can recover, but it needs to be affordable and attractive for small businesses.
MERIDYTH: Except the churn is brutal. 12,800 chain stores shut in 2024, 35 a day. Innovation doesn’t mean much if half the shops are closed. That’s empty streets and lost jobs. At some point, govt has to treat this as a social crisis, not just a market shift.
ALISTER: We can’t fund rose-tinted memories. The nature and purpose of the high street has changed. £5bn in long-term capital could turn high streets into mixed-use hubs (shops, housing, services) keeping them alive while modernising, like coffee shops that are coworking places. It’s about a new type of high street.
MERIDYTH: Maybe, but I still want the idyllic high street where shopkeepers smile at you and pubs feel like an extension of your home. Progress is fine, but I just don’t want to lose the warmth to techie 1s and 0s.
🍸 Spy-tech. The UK has sealed a £1.5bn tie-up with US AI-spy firm Palantir, promising to create ~350 jobs. It’s billed as a defence upgrade, but critics warn about outsourcing national security to a controversial private company.
🧾 Epstein files. Newly released documents link Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, Steve Bannon, and Prince Andrew to Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet and island trips. The reports spark renewed scrutiny over who really flew with Epstein and why.
⭐ Seeing stars. Businessman Roger Gawn is building a new film studio. Tattersett Business Park has received approval and will plan to create 600 new jobs. It’ll also be on the site of a former RAF base, which has been waiting for a new purpose.
🤖 AI fact checker. The govt has been pushing for AI to revolutionise our services, and some departments are seeing the value. Almost £500m has been recovered using AI tools to spot fraud. They’re even planning to lease the tech to other nations!
⛪ Sky high church. In the heart of London’s Barbican, developers are literally building around a medieval church, suspending its 700-year-old tower 45ft in the air while erecting a new skyscraper beneath. A radical feat of engineering and heritage.
GOOD NEWS… for Brits wishing to work in America after the White House backtracked & clarified its $100k H-1B visa to be a one-time fee, not annual. BAD NEWS… for Trump, after a giant statue of him holding hands with Epstein appeared
🇫🇷 Notre Dame. The famous cathedral in Paris, once ravaged by a fire, has completely opened. The cathedral towers are now finally accessible for the first time since the devastating fire six years ago. Visitors can climb a symbolic milestone in its long restoration.
📺 Fake news. A Russian-funded news network is trying to disrupt elections in Moldova with disinformation. The scale of the manipulation is vast and frightening. A warning for other EU nations to keep a close eye on who is being paid to push views.
🛢 Pull the plug. The EU is setting up to scrap the Russian Druzhba crude pipeline. Despite Hungary and Slovakia’s reliance on the supplies, the EU is looking to restrict or even halt its use completely.
🔫 Shoot’em down. NATO has shifted its tone. Member states are now authorised to shoot down Russian aircraft in their airspace “when necessary.” It’s a sharp turn in their stance and a clear signal that diplomacy is no longer assumed.
🚨 Nerd Alert! Our current year is the sum of the first 10 cubes - 0³+1³+2³+3³+4³+5³+6³+7³+8³+9³ = 2025
Share your inner geek and The AM Squabble!
🍷 Drinking risks. A landmark genetic study finds that any alcohol intake (yes, even “light drinking”) is linked to higher dementia risk. It’s further proof that there is no such thing as a beneficial amount of alcohol. Damn. 😩
🥕 Veggies are good?!?! Who’d thunk it? 😲 Researchers are studying how certain vegetables can dampen blood sugar spikes, which is good news if you’re fighting diabetes. No guarantee of a miracle cure yet, but your sprouts just got more interesting.
🧠 Lab grown brains. Scientists growing brain tissue in labs are warning: the better we get at it, the more real the risks become. Could they ever gain consciousness or feel pain? The ethical debate is already live.
🙏 No AI Pope. Sorry tech nerds, Pope Leo has refused to authorise an AI Pope. Turns out someone had suggested an “AI Pope” where you could go online and get some 1-on-1 time with his Holiness. He described it as “an empty cold shell.”
🔥 But the Antichrist! Sorry Pope Leo, you don’t know what you’re doing. Peter Thiel, Palantir cofounder, guy from Epstein files, and worth roughly £20bn, says that “Fearing [AI] or regulating it, or opposing technological progress, would hasten the coming of the Antichrist“.
🎵 AI music. Moving away from religion, an AI-generated artist, Xania Monet, signed a $3m record deal. Kehlani spoke to her fans on TikTok saying “an AI R&B artist signed a multimillion-dollar deal… and the person is doing none of the work.” Obviously, musicians like Kehlani are furious, saying it breaks all rules of creativity.
By Alister
If you’ve been searching for your next historical drama fix, look no further than Netflix’s House of Guinness. From the creative mind behind Peaky Blinders, it dives into the world-famous brewing dynasty with grit, violence, and shadowy political dealings.
Kind of like Succession, it’s a dark family drama full of ambition, betrayal, and intrigue that makes for gripping TV.
History buffs, take note. While evocative, the creators have taken some artistic liberties. If you think it more a good pub tale rather than a true documentary, you might find yourself (as I did) lost in its intricate storytelling and all the better for it.
Even if Peaky Blinders wasn't quite your pint, House of Guinness stands firmly on its own. It’s an atmospheric and thoroughly entertaining saga that will leave you thirsty for the next round. 🍺
By Alister
You might have missed it, but according to trending socials, a mass rapture was supposed to happen last week.
Many were so sure it would be on the 23rd or 24th (dates were fuzzy… obvs), they filmed tearful goodbye videos and even posted survival tips for those of us left behind.
@jubileedawns Rapture 2025???👀 #rapture #exvangelical #religioustrauma #deconstruction #stitch
Now the apology clips and “I feel duped” posts are rolling in. And I will say, they’re a bit sad to watch. Belief is a powerful thing and the come down is real. Still, there’s something oddly sweet about people leaving behind guides for the rest of us.
Whew, you made it!
If you’re in Greater London, get ready to bask in October 'Indian summer' as temperatures are expected to hit 22 degrees! Join us next week for another Squabble.
Alister & Meridyth