Permanent Revolution with the Hitch
It’s become a bit de riguer to mock fans of Christopher Hitchens and I can completely understand why. As Tomiwa Owolade puts it in his memoriam piece to the journalist, the devotional tendencies of his online ummah often seem “profoundly un-Hitchian”.
UPDATE: So this one actually took off. Thank you to all those who read, and liked it enough to clap. Thanks to Tee Em and Frank Font for some particularly kind and thoughtful responses in the comment section. …
Nationalist stagnation in Holyrood means Sturgeon and her followers will have to find another path to partition.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. That’s what perhaps sums up the electoral stalemate between unionists and separatists in the Scottish Parliament after the elections last Thursday…
2021 has already seen two narrative assaults on Britain die. How long will Meghan’s last?
“No shock lasts more than 48 hours. There’s too much appetite for the next shock.” Harold Wilson reassures the Queen after revealing he has Alzheimer’s. Chronically late to every party, I just watched the final…
In memory of Patricia Timmons and all those who passed from Covid-19 💛
Christmas, 1939
George finds himself — hardly for the first time — lost for words.
But the stakes are rather higher than they have been in the past. …
Review: A Strange Romance and Trivial Dispute, by Ian Dixon Potter (Golden Age Theatre Co.), The White Bear Theatre, Kennington
First the good news. Both protagonists of these two extended monologues are not only superbly well-performed, they are written as full, breathing characters with no sense that they are simply…
It is no secret that supporters of the United Kingdom are not renowned for their unity. A central premise of the new Alliance 4 Unity is that the Scottish anti-separation parties have their votes split three ways in every election, while the SNP hoovers up all support from nationalists, plus…
Since Hamilton was released on Disney+, a new intake of fans have been treated to its perfectly pitched characterisations of the USA’s Founding Fathers. Among the most beloved is Thomas Jefferson, portrayed as a brash, flash Southerner who nonchalantly bursts into the second half with the rakish number “What’d I…
I am still not quite sure why I am supposed to be more angry about it than the barbaric arson attack on it, but I had to admit that President Trump’s now infamous stunt at the historic St John’s Episcopal Church did leave me uneasy.
The furious responses from the…
Britain faced two encroachments on two of its historic territories last week. One of those territories is still very much with us, part of our United Kingdom in fact, though often you wouldn’t know it. …
