I have taken to watching Cathy Newman’s show on Sky News. A slightly strange beast, it has some news but most of it is Cathy and a couple of her chums discussing the day’s events. I say chums because although there is always a leftie and a rightie, the former is of the “don’t scare the horses” variety, […]
The Sneering Style in British Politics Read More »
It started in a wine-shop one November, one of those where, come lunchtime, they find some tables, rustle up some charcuterie and charge you corkage. The sort of place where you pair the food with the wine, not vice versa. My host had bought a decent bottle. I think. I couldn’t drink it. Even the
The Sense of An Ending Read More »
Neither of my parents were exactly space buffs but if, back in the heady days of Armstrong and co., you had asked them when their offspring would first see man in the general vicinity of the Moon, they probably wouldn’t have picked the early years of his sixth decade. Back then, there was a general
The Social Contract Read More »
Being a Homeric hero was, my tutor once opined, quite a sweet deal. Few of them actually die in battle, but they get huge amounts of status. And they spend most of their time eating roast beef. The Iliad shows both sides sacrificing a hecatomb (100 oxen) at the drop of a hat to win divine
It had been one of those weeks. It was not that anything had gone badly wrong, but more that nothing had gone particularly right. It could have been different – a push here, a nudge there, and it would have been a good week. But neither push nor nudge came and so it ended on
The Weather Inside Read More »
I went to bed on Thursday expecting to wake up in the People’s Republic of Faragia. That didn’t happen. Firstly, the count didn’t start until 9am and secondly, the Tories won the most seats. When the dust settled, in my target seat (although not a top target), it hadn’t even been that close. Still, that minor wrinkle aside, Reform had good local elections. A
Being born must be the most surprising thing that ever happens to you. Not only can a foetus have no idea it can be born, but as soon as it is, it is subject to a range of experiences it has never had and has no reason to think it ever could. It gets colder.
I haven’t seen all that many dawns, and many of those I have seen can be blamed on my father. One of those people who believe suggested check-in times leave far too much to chance, most childhood holidays started when the sky was the same colour as my sleep-deprived humour. One year he even contrived
The Signals we Don’t Send Read More »
Exhibit A: The government declines to send a Minister to appear on a politics show. “They’re frightened of us because we hold them to account,” the host informs the audience. Exhibit B: A female observes a certain froideur from a man in her social circle. Can’t handle strong women, she concludes. Two different events, one macro, one micro, but
How We Use Our Enemies Read More »
Hollywood sexism is more nuanced than we sometimes allow. It is not that there are no roles for older women – the movies need just as many grandmas as grizzled veterans – but that there is a gap beneath that age. Once the children leave home, and before they return with children of their own,
The Value of Negative Success Read More »
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