I've been quiet on here and I know it. Life gets in the way – work, family, the ordinary grind that doesn't care if you've got something to say. I've also been putting the hours into a book. A publisher had shown interest, enough that I let myself believe it was going somewhere, and they've … Continue reading The Same Address, A Different House
Category: Politics
The Virus: A Parable of Power and Pathogens
Never thought I’d find myself reading this, but, curiosity got the better of me. It’s one of history’s tidier ironies that a man once wrote a novel about an incompetent government facing a deadly plague - only for his son to later preside over one. The Virus (originally The Marburg Virus, 1982) is Stanley Johnson’s … Continue reading The Virus: A Parable of Power and Pathogens
The Orcs of Academia: On the Fall of Myth and the Rise of the Moron
I woke this morning to read that The Lord of the Rings ‘demonises people of colour.’ For a moment I thought I’d stumbled into a parody site, or perhaps Mordor had opened a diversity department. But no - this was genuine academic commentary, the sort of thing one now finds oozing from the lecture halls … Continue reading The Orcs of Academia: On the Fall of Myth and the Rise of the Moron
The Archbishopric of Canterbury: From Augustine’s Cloak to Sarah’s Mitre
This piece has been a long time in gestation. Ever since Justin Welby announced his departure, I've found myself jotting notes, revisiting history, and anticipating the inevitable turn the Church of England would take. Today’s announcement is therefore no surprise - only the confirmation of what many of us had already suspected. It seemed fitting, … Continue reading The Archbishopric of Canterbury: From Augustine’s Cloak to Sarah’s Mitre
The Ship of Theseus: A Nation Adrift on Rotten Planks
Plutarch’s riddle is older than our language but no less urgent for its age. If every plank of Theseus’ ship were replaced, was it still the same vessel? The Athenians insisted that it was - because their pride needed it to be so. Hobbes, less sentimental, pressed the matter: what if the discarded planks were … Continue reading The Ship of Theseus: A Nation Adrift on Rotten Planks
