Welcome to The Sniff Test!

Hi, I’m Simon and I help people make sense of the world around us.

You’ll get around 1,500 words of plain English each week explaining what’s really going on.

What to Expect:

The Sniff Test challenges popular theories and reporting of politics and asks “Is that really true?”

The world is full of narratives and memes. Statistics are manipulated and jargon commonplace. When we don’t understand we’re made to feel foolish. We’re not and we just need a plain English explanation.

About Me

I am a former stock market analyst, who spent five years building a startup and the same again working for the company that bought it. I now work applying artificial intelligence to increase productivity. I know the tricks of the trade and how to spot them.

Knowledge fascinates me, especially how we create it and how we test whether we are right. I wonder why things happen the way they do and search for hidden motivations.

My curiosity and questioning have landed me in trouble plenty of times. I’ve been kicked off TV shows and CEOs called for my head after reading my reports.

You have to say it how it is. You have to pass The Sniff Test.