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Tuned in: Half a century in love with the BBC
A lifelong love of the BBC, from crackling shortwave broadcasts in Kolkata to clear digital voices in Singapore, becomes a reflection on language, accents and the pleasure of precise speech.
6–9 minutes -
Krishna and Jesus: Alike and unlike
The stories of Jesus and Krishna reveal striking parallels in their threatened births, moral teachings, violent deaths and promises of redemption, even as their lives and faiths remain profoundly different.
8–12 minutes -
The Sceptred Isle, adrift
Britain’s rapid succession of prime ministers, the legacy of Brexit, rising Reform UK and questions of immigration and identity leave Keir Starmer facing an increasingly unsettled country.
7–11 minutes -
Oil calms the Gulf
The fragile ceasefire between the United States and Iran suggests that shared economic interests—from oil and shipping to global markets—can sometimes push rivals towards restraint.
7–11 minutes -
Critics and readers: A tale of two lists
A comparison of critics’ and readers’ choices among the 100 best novels explores literary taste, the enduring appeal of the canon and what great fiction gives us.
11–17 minutes -
Misunderstood favourites: Born in the USA and The Charge of the Light Brigade
Tennyson’s Charge of the Light Brigade and Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA became popular works whose stirring music and poetry often conceal their darker meanings.
4–6 minutes -
AI is no oracle: It’s as subjective as a Spotify playlist
AI chatbots can synthesise information and explain ideas with remarkable ease, but their tendency to please makes fact-checking and independent sources more important than ever.
4–6 minutes -
AI Mode and AI Overviews: Where curiosity meets instant answers
Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode are reshaping search, offering instant answers and open-ended exploration while leaving publishers, readers and traditional news writing to adapt.
5–7 minutes -
The Crusades and the West’s later role in the Middle East
The Crusades and the West’s later interventions in the Middle East illuminate a long history of conflict, ambition and cultural entanglement between East and West.
6–9 minutes -
John Keats: Romantic in sweet unrest
John Keats transformed intense sensuality, beauty, longing and mortality into poems whose unresolved mysteries and ravishing imagery still captivate readers.
4–6 minutes
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