In an age ever more obsessed with the importance of crafting effective political ‘stories’ and ‘narratives’, Jacqueline Mulhallen’s Percy Bysshe Shelley: Poet and Revolutionary is a timely review of the life and work of a poet writing 200 years ago acutely aware of the vital role the imagination plays in extending the horizons of political possibility.
Michel Houellebecq’s Submission carries an explosive political charge, even by the standards of France’s most controversial novelist.
Blue Labour is interesting because it has something new to say. Or more accurately, perhaps, something that only seems new because it is so old, forgotten by contemporary political debate for many decades: a renewed focus on the ancient idea, at the heart of classic political and religious thought, of the common good.
Notes on an exhibition tracing the work, ideals and lasting influence of the great Victorian artist, designer, poet, novelist and campaigner William Morris.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been glad to help with the development of a new current affairs website, Sceptical Scot, which launched this week. The site hopes to bring more light than heat to the ongoing, intense discussion over the future of Scotland in the wake of last year’s referendum.
While absentmindedly surfing channels a few evenings ago I was fortunate to chance on what turned out to be one of the most compelling films I’ve ever seen: The Epic of Everest, a new version of a 1924 documentary recording one of the earliest efforts to scale the mountain.
Reflections on John Foxx’s Metamatic, a landmark in electronic music released 35 years ago this month.