He starts writing in hope as much as in expectation Is that too cliche? Should that have an acute accent? Spelcheck later He puts pen to paper Or rather He puts fingers to keys He starts another sentence with the word ‘he’ He’ll fix that later in the editing The words come out in bursts Continue reading

Along with the listicle and the clickbait headline, the oral history is one of modern pop-journalism’s go-to formats. But oral histories are not just a recent phenomenon. Here we take a look at the oral history from the people who helped develop the format. HERODOTUS: Cicero called me the Father of History, so I think Continue reading

These days I don’t watch much, if any, terrestrial TV. Not in a braggy way, I promise. Even my parents watch a lot less these days. This means that some TV personalities are anonymous to me. But sometimes I have random worries about people. Is Gok Wan still working? What is Louie Spence up to Continue reading

Managing my eczema is like trying to solve a whodunnit at times. Narrowing down the list of suspects one by one. Was it the beers I had for Chris’s birthday? Did I have a reaction to the egg and cress sandwich at the train station? In the end it turns out the butler did it, Continue reading

Several times a year there is a call by a politician, a campaign group or a national newspaper to teach more of a certain subject/topic in UK schools. Sometimes it is in response to a study showing how far behind British children are compared to their international peers. Instead of any analysis in learning from Continue reading

This hot take comes from 2020. I believe we should take down all statues, not just the ones of the morally reprehensible. Statues belong in a certain time period, namely the past, along with lithographic prints and reliefs. In those olden days, statues made sense. Without access to any form of media, how was a Continue reading

This isn’t a travel blog. At least not yet. But it isn’t not a travel blog and I went to Athens recently and I have some thoughts. Probably not unique, possibly ill-considered and most certainly sweeping generalisations. But they are mine. To get a bit poetic for a second, Athens is a city in indecision. Continue reading

There are lots of things that I irrationally hate. Many of them would be good contenders if I ever got invited onto the TV show Room 101. But my first pick would be the phrase ‘this one’, specifically in online posts about a partner. You know, “Much needed weekend away with this one!”, “Can’t go Continue reading

I went and saw my GP the other day. It was a fairly routine appointment, I’m not dying. That shouldn’t need clarifying, but I always feel the need to add it any time I tell someone I’ve been to the doctors. Anyway, as a writing exercise, I’ve been trying to take a mental note of Continue reading

Here is my hot-take on the current major geopolitical situation in the Middle East. Even deciding the wording for that first sentence took some time before I settled on the word situation. Conflict, war, invasion, occupation are all loaded. Situation is bland and vague enough to not offend anyone. I hope. But maybe my main Continue reading