Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Mike Bloomberg’s campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination stands at a crossroads after results from Super Tuesday voting indicated his $500m gamble had failed. The questions will start with the wisdom of Bloomberg foregoing the first four state contests to plow more than half a billion dollars of his estimated $55bn personal fortune into campaigning in the…

If there was one thing that irked “Mad” Mike Hughes during his very public pursuit of the theory that Earth is flat, it was the sheer gullibility of those who believed otherwise. Toiling away in his garage in the high desert of California, welding leftover parts that he bought off Craigslist into rockets on which…

Drug trafficking in and out of Venezuela has surged by 50 per cent in the past year aided by the illegitimate regime of Nicolás Maduro, according to a US military commander. The breakdown of government and society has created a vacuum of lawlessness. Smugglers are operating with impunity “in cahoots” with the regime, creating a…

Manuel Oliver, who lost his son, Joaquin, in the 2018 school shooting, is raising awareness and building on his ‘art activism’ with Guac: My Son, My Hero There is a single, powerful moment in Manuel Oliver’s stage show that captures the purpose of a work he never wanted to write. An alarm clock rings, signalling that 15…

When Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton by fewer than 113,000 of the 9.4m votes cast in Florida’s 2016 presidential election, it came as little surprise in a state accustomed to razor-thin margins. Memories of the 2000 cliffhanger and Bush’s 537-vote victory over Al Gore were still fresh, after all. But when lightning struck again in the 2018…

Labour has called for the Duke of York to give evidence to US investigators over his links to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Barry Gardiner, the shadow trade secretary, said testifying under oath was “the right thing to do”, while another Labour frontbencher called Prince Andrew “a disgrace” for lacking empathy for Epstein’s victims.…

Hundreds of Bahamian citizens desperate to escape the devastation of Hurricane Dorian were ordered off a ferry to Florida, sparking a dispute between US immigration officials and the operator of the vessel. Crew members aboard the Balearia in Freeport, Grand Bahama, told evacuees without valid US visas they would have to disembark because US Customs and Border…

In happier times, Great Abaco was a laid-back slice of paradise that beckoned tourists with its powdery beaches, lush landscapes and cocktails at sunset. Now, survivors of Hurricane Dorian throng the Bahamian island’s storm battered, sun-scorched airstrips pleading for evacuation, many with only the clothes on their backs. They are dazed, distressed and desperate. “We…

It may have seemed a convenient twist for some when Jeffrey Epstein was found dying in his New York prison cell with a noose around his neck and his last will and testament freshly filed. Yet far from putting the lid on the scandal in which the millionaire predator abused girls with near-impunity, his suicide two weeks…

The crystal blue waters of Ginnie Springs have long been treasured among the string of pearls that line Florida’s picturesque Santa Fe River, a playground for water sports enthusiasts and an ecologically critical haven for the numerous species of turtles that nest on its banks. Soon, however, it is feared there could be substantially less water flowing…