-
The Sceptred Isle, adrift
The impossible in-tray at No. 10: Why Keir Starmer is the sixth prime minister in 10 years – and faces a new challenger for his job Uneasy lies the head that sleeps at No. 10 Downing Street. When not brooding on the National Health Service, immigration, Brexit and other sundry…
7–11 minutes -
Oil calms the Gulf
Trump gets his wish: Economics plays peacemaker in the US-Iran war Around his 80th birthday, President Donald Trump got the gift he sought: a memorandum of understanding to end nearly four months of hostilities that began with a US-Israel attack on Tehran in late February. Under its terms, Iran will…
7–11 minutes -
Critics and readers: A tale of two lists
‘Readers and critics don’t always think alike, as The Guardian discovered when it asked the two groups to name their favourite novels ’It is a truth universally acknowledged that critics and readers do not think alike. Those first five words are borrowed from the most famous opening line in the…
11–17 minutes -
Misunderstood favourites: Born in the USA and The Charge of the Light Brigade
Revisiting Tennyson led me to Springsteen—and to the uneasy thought that we often hear only what we want to hear. A poem or a song may acquire an identity of its own, quite unlike what the poet or singer intended. I was reading a biography of Lord Tennyson when an…
4–6 minutes -
AI is no oracle: It’s as subjective as a Spotify playlist
AI chatbots are useful. But they are trained to please when all you want is information — and that makes all the difference. I appreciate the convenience of having questions answered by Google itself, rather than being directed to other websites. Sometimes I enjoy diving into AI Mode, where Google…
4–6 minutes -
AI Mode and AI Overviews: Where curiosity meets instant answers
As an old-timer with a love for newspapers and magazines, I am glad to see traditional news writing getting a new lease of life from Google. For what are AI Overviews — those snippets of information sometimes found at the top of Google’s search results pages — but quick summaries…
5–7 minutes -
The Crusades and the West’s later role in the Middle East
The Iran war suddenly made me think of the Crusades. I am surprised I have not yet seen any comparisons being drawn. There are, of course, obvious differences. This is not, for most of the adversaries at least, a religious war. They are not fighting for the Holy Land. The…
6–9 minutes -
John Keats: Romantic in sweet unrest
People who indulge their senses to excess are often reproved as sensualists or voluptuaries — a censure that would never attach to Keats. Yet has there ever been a more sensuous poet? His vivid imagery and his evocation of the physical world — the fragrance of flowers, the beauty of…
4–6 minutes -
Comic, comedic and comedy: From Shakespeare to Wodehouse
The Oxford Dictionary of English gives only a partial definition of comedy. A comedy, it says, is a film, play or broadcast programme intended to make an audience laugh. That is true as far as it goes, but it misses something essential. What truly defines a comedy is not simply…
5–7 minutes -
Sound advice: The best RP and BBC English podcasts
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” wrote Shakespeare. But the accent, I would argue, makes a difference. Crystal-clear Received Pronunciation—RP, or “BBC English”—is easy on the ears and perfect for podcasts. Here’s a brief guide. Hear, hear!Image: Ai-generated/ Gemini I loved the vowels and diction of…
5–8 minutes
You must be logged in to post a comment.