Steven Boykey Sidley
Steven Boykey Sidley is a professor of practice at University of Johannesburg, columnist-at-large for Daily Maverick and a partner at Bridge Capital. His new book "It's Mine: How the Crypto Industry is Redefining Ownership" is published by Maverick451 in SA and Legend Times Group in UK/EU, available now. His columns can be found at https://substack.com/@stevenboykeysidley
Articles By This Author
Firing on your neighbours – has Iran miscalculated?
This war is only a few days old, and it is very quickly becoming very different from the last short sharp affair in June 2025, when Israel and the US collaborated to defang Iran’s nuclear and missile programme. The critical difference has been Iran’s decision to target not only Israel, but both US and civilian assets in multiple Gulf states. Arab states. Neighbours.
The strange sounds of UK’s bewildering politics
A friend of mine who lives in London was here a few weeks ago. I realised that with Trump, Ukraine/Russia, Middle East, AI and the
The other Epstein story
The public narrative of Jeffrey Epstein is monolithic: a sexual predator who exploited young women for both his own satisfaction and that of others in
What is the speed of the gold rally trying to tell us?
The recent rise in the price of gold is not in itself surprising – different assets go in and out of favour all the time.
Disruptor University – the sad tale of a great idea that failed
In May 2021, a quartet of intellectual dissidents gathered in Austin, Texas, united by a conviction that American higher education had lost its way. Venture
Elon’s next big, hairy, audacious gamble
In 2024, a minor grid disturbance in Fairfax County, Virginia caused 60 data centres to simultaneously switch to backup generators, shedding 1,500 megawatts in an
What’s with electricity prices? Politics and the blame game
Electricity prices are going up alarmingly, especially in the US and UK. Again, I have found myself embroiled in an argument about the price of
Trump and the Art of Not Starting Wars
We’ll get to Venezuela. But first… On Christmas Day 2025, as families exchanged gifts and tried to ignore global nastiness, President Donald Trump delivered a
Bondi Beach and the clash of civilizations
As this confusing year draws to a close, painfully punctuated by the excrescence of the attack on Jews celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach, I was
Technology billionaires and puppet politicians
Last week, the erstwhile fire-breathing, MAGA-roaring, Trump-praising Marjorie Taylor Greene (MTG) appeared on 60 Minutes with host Lesley Stahl. MTG recently fell afoul of Trump