Hasbro, the company that makes the potato-shaped plastic toy, is giving the spud a gender neutral new name: Potato Head. The change will appear on boxes this year. Hasbro said Mr. Potato Head, which has been around for about 70… Read More ›
Politics
Sathnam Sanghera discusses Empireland
This is an excellent episode in which James O’Brien talks to Sathnam Sanghera about his new book Empireland. I am currently reading this book and it is absolutely fascinating just how much we in the UK have tried to keep… Read More ›
We’re trading with the world. It’s a fantasy
Reworking reality is preferable to accepting that Brexit has left us ripe for exploitation. Like a conman eyeing a mark, the world can sense our neediness. Last year, a desperate Truss unilaterally suspended tariffs imposed by the EU on US… Read More ›
Empireland
In his brilliantly illuminating new book Sathnam Sanghera demonstrates how so much of what we consider to be modern Britain is actually rooted in our imperial past. In prose that is, at once, both clear-eyed and full of acerbic wit,… Read More ›
He must go
The UK government has done everything right in this pandemic. The problem is that the UK government has done everything late as well. Locking down last March: too late and we allowed massive gatherings to take place. Estimates of up… Read More ›
Should voters have to pass an IQ test?
After four years of being told that leave voters knew exactly what they were voting for, you condescending remoaner, I don’t know how to feel about financially capsized leave voters queuing up to tell the media that they did not,… Read More ›
Joe Biden’s watch
The Rolex Datejust appears to be a new piece for Biden, and as far as the achievement-to-reward ratio goes, I don’t think I’d classify the Datejust as “excessive.” It’s definitely not Biden’s first watch, as he’s famously been seen wearing… Read More ›
“The Hill We Climb” by Amanda Gorman
When day comes we ask ourselvesWhere can we find light in this never-ending shade?The loss we carry,A sea we must wade.We braved the belly of the beast;We’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace.And the norms and notions of what just… Read More ›
I will never write about Brexit again…
“The world is now dominated by three gargantuan economic blocs – the United States, China and the European Union,” wrote Landler. “Britain has finalised its divorce from one of them, leaving it isolated at a time when the path forward… Read More ›
The Queen’s Speech: 2020
I would love it if she said that, but it seems unlikely… It will, however, be interesting to see how she talks about 2020. There is a lot to say and it will be a tough pitch to look for… Read More ›
McGST 