Magnus Barnett

Are movie theaters dead, or is the big screen irreplaceable?

My nephew is seventeen and has seen exactly two movies in a theater in his life, both on school field trips. He watched Oppenheimer on his phone, in two sittings, while texting through the quiet parts, and he considers that a complete and normal viewing experience. His friends are the same, and the surveys back it up: younger viewers increasingly prefer watching on phones and treat the big screen as an occasional novelty ([Deloitte](https://www.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/industry/technology/digital-media-trends-consumption-habits-survey.html)). There's a whole generation forming its relationship to film without any nostalgia for the marquee, the sticky floors, any of it, and nostalgia was the only thing keeping the lights on. You can't kill what was never alive for them. Theaters aren't being replaced by home theaters so much as by the phone, and the phone already won.

Should billionaires be allowed to exist?

Oh good, another round of "blame the billionaires." Meanwhile the same politicians who have been in office for thirty years, the ones who actually write the tax code, the ones who approved every loophole, want you mad at a guy who made an app instead of at them. It's the oldest trick in the book and people fall for it every single election cycle. And spare me the "they should pay their fair share" line as if anyone here knows what that number is. Every time someone proposes an actual tax reform with actual numbers, the same crowd yawns because spreadsheets are boring and villains are fun. Billionaires are just a convenient costume for a failure of governance. Fix the laws. Stop electing arsonists and then blaming the fire on whoever built the tallest house.

Should record-setting athletes receive standardized bonuses across men’s and women’s teams?

U.S. Soccer's equal deal worked because two strong players' unions sat across the table. Most federations' athletes have no union, no agents, and no leverage: a record bonus is whatever the federation announces, take it or leave it. Standardized bonuses protect exactly those athletes, the ones who cannot bargain. A published schedule says a record is worth the same whoever sets it, which matters most in programs where the women's team has no collective agreement and no one to call. FIFA's prize pools show the gap standardized bonuses would start to close: $110 million for the 2023 Women's World Cup against $440 million for the men. [PFA](https://pfa.net.au/the-pfa-post/pfa-post-womens-world-cup-prize-money-explained/). Federations will always say the context differs. A standard says the achievement does not. The athletes with the least power should not depend on their federation's generosity.

Climate accords are actually the counterpoint though. Weak global agreements still created the framework that later got strengthened. A floor that rises over time beats no floor at all.

Politics · Sep 23, 2026 · Should international technology rules be enforceable rather than voluntary?