Day 1252

Swift or swallow?

c/o National Geographic (Photograph by Alan Williams, Nature Picture Library)

I just listened to Luke compare Kyiv to Berlin during the Cold War.

"It seems like Kyiv is the most important city in Europe. It feels to me like Berlin felt during the Cold War. It's the place where the future of Europe will be decided, either whether the Russians win and prevail and we're in a new age of conquest and imperialism, or actually whether the enlightenment ideal of humankind, of decency and freedom, whether that prevails. I don't know the answer, but, for now, I'm strangely happy to be here…" (The Guardian, July 29, 2025)

Naturally, I checked. 57. Which means during the height of Cold War Berlin, Luke was, er:

• 1981: 13 years old

• 1982: 14 years old

• 1983: 15 years old

• 1984: 16 years old

• 1985: 17 years old

AI confirms what you'd expect: Born in Nottingham, went to school in Wales, then Oxford. His Berlin correspondent gig? Started in 2003 – when he was 35 and the Wall had been down for over a decade.

So Luke…