WhatsApp wars, vape ubiquity and the genius of Stel Pavlou

A writer’s edition from Jack

Dear members — Jack here, once again reviving the concept of the writer’s edition. I did one of these back at the start of November and Dave did one in December, and people seemed to enjoy both… so I’m tentatively launching a third. Part of the appeal for me was that they sparked a lot of conversation in the comments, so do jump in with any thoughts and ideas.

Today’s compendium of random thoughts and tidbits spans the full breadth of the human experience: from the WhatsApp war in my house-share to Stel Pavlou and Ronny Yu’s 2001 masterpiece The 51st State. Then we’ve got the miserable decline of Everton FC and the unstoppable rise of the vape/newsagents shop. It’s basically a pick n mix: something for every taste.

In the next few months we should be expanding our ranks here at The Post, both in terms of new staff and new freelancers; our growth of late has brought us close to the point where that is financially viable. Which is amazing, it’ll mean a greater variety of voices getting pu…