Soft Power
The fallacy of soft power
The world runs on cold national self interest, not cultural capital
Soft power has little substance
The foreign policy concept has been used as an excuse for declinist myth-making
Love, death and drink
Does inspiration really come out of a bottle?
The Lost Gardens of London
The war between city and greenery is eternal; the concrete and asphalt seeks open land to engulf
On cockroaches and cancellation (w/ James Dreyfus)
How ideology is spoiling the arts
Gyles Brandreth’s bon mots
An obsession with linguistic and historical marginalia has infected British culture
Developing nations will be forced to choose
Sitting on the fence between China and the USA is unsustainable
Carole Cadwalladr’s conspiracy theory
The feverish paranoia obscures valid questions
Is Keir Starmer coming for Twitter?
A campaign group with close ties to Labour Party reportedly hopes to “kill Musk’s Twitter”
The authorities are inept sheriffs of social media
Politicians, the police and the judiciary should stop trying to control a landscape they do not understand
Sectarianism contra socialism
How did “left-wing” MPs end up voting for the VAT exemption for private schools?
Does vaping do more harm than good?
It seems improbable
Murders for November
Another mélange of murders, from Japan to Scotland
