Good News Sunday: Steve Jobs and other music.

Musique and old music, velvet music and ||gai-tsen, ceol, more ceol and then music again. And — Steve Jobs.

This week’s Good News Sunday is all about music: the math rock of Angine de Poitrine, Old Music Friday with “Best of My Love” by the Emotions, and then the slightly weird performance of ex-Velvet Underground members John Cale and Lou Reed, commemorating their patron Andy Warhol, arguably the world’s most influential exponent of the pop-art movement. We move on to the miraculous, seemingly impromptu gathering of pupils in the hallways of Wynberg High School of Johannesburg, South Africa; that precise location apparently producing the exact reverb needed for their African roots-inspired chants. On again, under a tree some place in Ireland, a song about not being allowed in the bar, and then, again in Ireland, but now in a bar, singing good night, and closing with the sisters of Larkin Poe singing Crimson and Clover.

But we start with a session at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology featuring my all-time hero, Steve Jobs.

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The sway he has over the audience. Famous, good-looking and vocally talented, he has the room from the first sentence.

Steve Jobs, 1992. Then CEO of NeXt — the hardware and software company he founded after being ousted from Apple.

Even as the guant skeleton he’d become in the years before his death, when he was battling cancer, he was eloquent and knowledgeable.

A hero for millions — how often have I not read about the early years, picturing him in his parents garage with Woz

Saint Steve in heaven says everything will be okay.

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In the News Today

As if we didn’t have enough to worry about. Wildfires in Europe are burning through travel industry revenues, not to mention the burning through firefighting equipment and personnel, not to mention the obvious: the forests themselves.

Yesterday my exes holiday in Northern Belgium was cut short by neighbouring wildfires, forcing her out of the camping site to the closest hotel outside of the danger zone.

All through Europe, extreme drought is causing water-cooled power stations to reduce production or close down entirely.

Of the major waterways, the Danube is affected the worst, having dropped to precariously low levels.

The Danube originates near Donaueschingen in Germany, then, already a major river, goes through Vienna, Austria, on through Slovakia to flow through Budapest, Hungary. After that comes Croatia and Serbia, then Bulgaria, then moving through Romania to finally empty into the Black Sea.

Due to extreme weather and excessive drought, nuclear and hydroelectric plants in Romania, Hungary, and Serbia are either shut down or operating at minimal capacity.

Let’s look at the national newspapers of countries for which the Danube is the lifeblood.

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🇷🇸 Serbia, B92

[Dubravka Đedović Handanović, Serbian Minister of Mining and Energy]: “Proizvodnja električne energije iz hidroelektrana na 50 odsto ispod višegodišnjeg proseka, na 20, 30 odsto kapaciteta, ali su bez obzira na to svi agregati u funkciji.”

(“Hydroelectric power production is 50% below the multi-year average, at 20–30% capacity, but all units are still operational.”)

Serbia’s key hydroelectric plant is operating at 20% capacity due to the Danube’s low levels. Prime Minister Djuro Macut called the situation “serious and demanding”, urging residents to minimise use of high-consumption appliances like air conditioners ​

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🇭🇺 Hungary, Telex

[Péter Magyar, Prime Minister of Hungary]: “Mínusz 133 centiméternél jár a Duna Paksnál, mínusz 134 centiméternél fogják lekapcsolni a paksi atomerőmű utolsó működő gépegységét.”

(“The Danube is at -133 centimeters at Paks, and at -134 centimeters, the last operating unit of the Paks nuclear plant will be shut down.”)

“A Duna adott nekünk napokat, nem hónapokat.”

(“The Danube has given us days, not months.”)

The Paks Nuclear Plant, Hungary’s only nuclear facility, which supplies a third of the country’s electricity, is operating at 10% capacity due to the Danube’s record-low levels. The plant has never shut down in its 44-year history, but Prime Minister Péter Magyar warned that a full shutdown is imminent if water levels drop further. The government is now building a submerged stone wall and may sink two 80-meter barges to raise water levels by up to 1 meter near the plant. The cost of these interventions (~€19 million) is a fraction of the €158 million/month economic loss from reduced output ​

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🇷🇴 Romania, Digi24

Apele Române (Romanian Water Administration)]: “Este foarte clar că, în perioada următoare, centrala nucleară se va opri.”

(“It is very clear that, in the coming period, the nuclear plant will shut down.”)

“Dragarea Dunării nu mai poate împiedica oprirea.”

(“Dredging the Danube can no longer prevent the shutdown.”)

The Cernavoda Nuclear Plant, Romania’s only nuclear facility, which normally provides 20% of the country’s electricity, has shut down both reactors due to record-low Danube water levels. The first reactor was closed in late July, and the second began shutdown procedures on August 13, 2026. Authorities attempted to redirect water by sinking four rock-laden barges near the Bala Canal, but to no avail.

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That’s all for this week, see you on the next Good News Sunday, where the news isn’t always Good.

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Header Image: Nikolett Emmert on Unsplash