Dr. Mark Nicholson6 minA Load of PollocksAny art dealer is going to regard me as hopelessly naïve and lacking in acumen but I would far rather have a beautiful painting by...
Richard Pooley6 minGerrymandering – the Tory Biter BitGerrymandering is a fun word for something so pernicious to democracy. I have always loved the story of its origin. In 1812 the Governor...
Stoker5 min(not so) Dear Deer Those of us who are just a touch old fashioned (and Stoker slightly ruefully so admits) had a strange frisson when scanning the various...
Lynda Goetz7 minDigital Echo Chambers - The Coffee Houses of Today ‘Echo chambers’ may not have been the word or phrase of 2023 (that was ‘authentic’ according to Merriam Webster; ‘rizz’, short for...
Vincent Guy2 minWinterreise – (A Winter Journey)‘Winterreise’ was, fittingly, Schubert’s final work. He was checking the text for publishing just before he died.
Lynda Goetz7 minThe UK Post Office Horizon Scandal - What are the lessons? I was one of the 1.2 million Brits who signed the petition calling for Paula Vennells, ex-Chief Executive of the UK's Post Office, to be...
Dr. Mark Nicholson5 minWhat my children’s school might teach Israelis and PalestiniansThe thirteenth of October 2023 was international day at our younger daughters’ school in Nairobi. On that day, the whole world was...
Richard Pooley4 minBe WEIRD, Say “Hi”. It’s good for you.When I first read the headline on the news website, my immediate reaction was “Don’t tell me the bleeding obvious!”. I can’t recall the...
Michael Carberry6 min“It’s not my funeral”Recently, one of my in-laws announced that he and his wife had decided that when they died, they would not have a funeral, since they were..
Stoker5 minAnd A Miserable 2024 To You Too No, really. We won’t even say “it’s bound to be better than last year”. Last year was OK, as years go, and whilst we all suffer from...