Classic Mystery
I must admit, my preferred type of crime story is reasonably hard-edged. I’ve been reading George Pelecanos recently, and loving it....


How to win Eurovision
An excellent evening courtesy of the Royal Television Society – thanks to them for organizing and running the event – on ‘How to Win...

A Remarkable Man
Yesterday, I attended the most remarkable zoom call in my life. ‘I’ and hundreds of students and academics on one end, and on the other,...


A Soft Power Coup
Last Saturday, the UK became loved in Europe again (for the moment, at least). We came second in the Eurovision Song Contest, something...
An Instant Guide to the Eurovision Final
So, this is it. 24 countries will be battling it out tonight for the Eurovision trophy. This is a glass model of an old-fashioned...
Archetypes in Eurovision
Carl Gustav Jung is famous for his listing of human archetypes. He listed four main ones. No he didn’t; it was seven. No, it was twelve....
Kings Lynn Literature Festival, 2022
Another great Kings Lynn Literature festival last weekend, despite the hugely regrettable absence of Tony and Lizzie due to Covid (Rob...
Pater and hedonism (continued)
The psychologist can also enter the argument. How does the human pleasure system actually work? ‘How to live a pleasurable life’ is as...


Walter Pater
Watching a documentary last night, where someone quoted Walter Pater. I was intrigued, and did some research. He was a Victorian academic...
2020 Eurovision
Eurovision, lockdown style. No celebrating crowds, no dancers or pyrotechnics, no voting... The EBU could have chosen to keep as close to...