Where’s the research?

The seemingly never-ending proliferation of Tory party ‘research groups’ is misleading people into thinking that pressure groups have some impartial expertise associated with them…

Reply guy

A great term I heard for the first time today: A reply guy is a term for a man who frequently comments on tweets or other social media posts in an annoying, condescending, forward, or otherwise unsolicited manner–especially posts by women. Dictionary.com…

Basic necessities

As the Government and corporations make decisions on our behalf about what constitute basic necessities, Jo Glanville makes the point that ‘Essential items are not only the goods that keep us alive, but the ones that make us human.’ Jo Glanville | Basic Necessities · LRB 8 April 2020…

This was Nixon

Imagine a president being so vain and childish. The president wanted to reimpose a ban on New York Times reporters entering the White House – the paper hadn’t given him enough praise for his role in the Apollo programme. The Most Beautiful Icicle: Apollo 11…

Alan Bennett’s diary

Alan Bennett’s diary in the LRB is always one of my favourite reads at this time of year.…

This Be The Verse

The Backlisted podcast is always brilliant. This remix of Philip Larkin’s ‘This Be The Verse’ is a particular delight. 📚🎙 0:00/1×…