Stop me if you’ve heard this one. A man’s wife divorces him and shacks up with his boss. Soon after, a friend suggests that he should remarry. “What for?” he asks. “Are you looking for a wife as well?”
It …
Why we love to hate MasterChef
We should all hate MasterChef. It should be just as difficult to stomach Gregg Wallace’s endless cliches as it is listening to him talking through a mouthful of banoffee pie. But, to quote the man, when it comes to watching …
Searching for Shane MacGowan
Other than a dissection of abject narcissism, I’m no longer sure poetry has much to offer us. I think we’re losing our capacity to look outwards. The writing that interests me most now is about this crisis, this prolapsing of …
Philip Guston’s fight against evil
Two years late and trailing clouds of derision after the Boston Museum of Fine Arts didn’t feel it could mount the exhibition without a confetti shower of trigger warnings and leaflets advising on “Emotional Preparedness”, the Philip Guston retrospective finally …
Shane MacGowan: Ireland’s punk poet
One Christmas on the train home to see my parents, Shane MacGowan was on the same carriage. The children in the carriage were drawn to him like he was Santa Claus, and they broke out into excited giggling every time …
Kidulting is tragic
Kids like pretending to be adults. They give dolls haircuts and make plastic meals in little plastic kitchens. They gawp in wonderment at diggers and bulldozers, then use miniature versions for their own grand construction plans, building imaginary cities where …
Why Snoop Dogg should quit weed
Last week, the world awoke to a new status quo, a shifted paradigm, the end of an era. Where getting high was concerned, the Pope had just given up on Catholicism: Snoop Dogg had retired from the smoke. Leaderless, rudderless …
How did Oxford become so lame?
When I was 17, the schoolmaster tasked with overseeing my moral development frowned at my show of indecision about the future direction of my education and, as if letting me into a trade secret, carefully explained: “Look, clever people go …
Is the Marvel Universe about to implode?
Even for this recovering comic-book fan who left the community two decades ago, it’s impossible to escape the Marvel Comic Universe. Reinforced by quippy banter, diversity-by-quota casting and passable CGI, its money-making “formula” has conquered the world. The strategy is …
Teaching Children About Conspiracies – #SolutionsWatch
How do you introduce conspiracy reality to young learners in an age-appropriate way? Good question. To help us answer it, today Connor Boyack joins us once again to discuss the latest installment in the Tuttle Twins series: The Tuttle Twins …
What Madonna can teach Taylor Swift
There’s a moment in Taylor Swift’s music video for “Look What You Made Me Do” in which all the ghosts of her past stand in a line as though they’re about to be executed by firing squad — only instead, …
Interview 1843 – Daniele Ganser Exposes The Ruthless Empire
Joining me today to discuss war, peace and the future of humanity is Daniele Ganser, an historian, author, energy and peace researcher and head of the Swiss Institute for Peace and Energy Research (SIPER). He is the author of the …
The age of the comedy roast is over
The spotlight beams down on the stage, illuminating the faces of the evening’s celebrities, who are seated in a semicircle like ancient oracles of comedy. At the centre of it all is the roastee — the guest of honour — …
When will we forget the Second World War?
The Second World War is Great Britain’s great daddy issue. It is with us from infancy, squatting immovably as a formative weight and wound. We either resent its example or strive to match it, coughing up Blitz spirit and slapping …
Episode 451 – I Read Yuval Noah Harari’s Book (So You Don’t Have To!)
You may think you know what transhumanist propaganda WEF minion Yuval Noah Harari is spreading, but if you haven’t read his book you don’t know the half of it! And so, in the increasingly illustrious tradition of previous editions of …