The Tyrant and His Enablers
Stephen Greenblatt, Professor of the Humanities at Harvard and Shakespeare scholar, examines the author’s preoccupation with politics, and more specifically with tyranny and how it comes about.
Behemoth, bully, thief: how the English language is taking over the planet
Far from being under threat as is sometimes claimed, the English language’s global dominance appears to be stronger than ever. Not only is it on a user acquisition spree that would make any tech startup jealous, but it has also turned into a “net exporter” of words, infiltrating other languages with Anglicisms. This piece examines these and other ways in which it is asserting its position as the first “hypercentral” language.
Welcome to the automated warehouse of the future
A look at the Ocado warehouse in Andover, UK, where automation has been implemented sufficiently effectively to allow the company to sell their solution to other organisations.
Wings of Desire: Why is an Obsessive British Collector Risking Jail to Kill Rare Butterflies
A look at the past and present of lepidopterists in Britain. That collectors of butterflies can risk prison time to capture endangered species for their collections, speaks both to the enduring fascination that these creatures have inspired in us, and to their market value.
NHS SOS
A sobering but essential read on the NHS. The story dives deep on the successive policies Whitehall and Westminster have implemented to effect change, interspersed with the experiences of individual patients and staff in the system.
Theresa May’s Impossible Choice
A look at Theresa May’s background and experience, and the perilous waters she now has to navigate.
Hugh Cudlipp Lecture 2018: James Harding
The former Director of BBC News and Editor of The Times asserts in this lecture that technology is damaging democracy. The piece is elevated from the multitude of others with a similar theme by its superior writing, wry humour, and effective deployment of numerous case studies from this time of “democratic recession”.
Women aren’t meant to talk about miscarriage. But I’ve never been able to keep a secret The Guardian
A fine piece of writing about the author’s experience of miscarriage.
Cloak and Data: The Real Story Behind Cambridge Analytica’s Rise and Fall
Before working for Donald Trump, Cambridge Analytica worked for Senator Ted CruzÕs campaign against him for the Republican nomination. This story goes back to that campaign and asserts that the company’s skills lay not in a uniquely effective use of data, but in a willingness to go where others wouldn’t and an ability to take business development to the level of an “internal Ponzi scheme”.
Inside the OED: can the world’s biggest dictionary survive the internet?
A study of the history of the dictionary and the evolving work of lexicographers in the internet age.