Category Archives: Uncategorized

How we made The Victorian Queens of Ancient Egypt

Have you ever wondered why ancient Egypt lives in so many museum collections across Britain? Not to mention Germany, France, the USA and other former colonial powers. Why it haunts our dreams and our films and since childhood our imaginations? … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Duran Duran and the glamour v grit music wars of the 80s

Ahead of tonight’s BBC4 Duran Duran night.. There is one rather interesting section of my interview with John Taylor and Roger Taylor we couldn’t quite get into the final Front Row edit on Monday night. Ā  So here’s the transcript. … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What made America great? On the trail of Laura Ingalls Wilder

It was the 2008 crash that somehow inspired me to finally read the Little House on the Prairie books. I was clearly craving comfort, safety, a kind of nostalgia for a vaguely remembered 70s girlhood in which I half watched … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Children, Culture, Film, History, Politics, Radio, Travel, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Making news in the “fake news” age

These are links to further reading from today’s Kingston University journalism/media lecture. Newswatch – on the Theresa May speech/cough – to see the connection between audience, traditional BBC news and the impact of “viral” social media on traditional news. The … Continue reading

Posted in journalism, Kingston University class notes, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Prisoner: An Anglo Saxon poetic meditation

Was meditating on the enduring power of The Prisoner TV series for Matthew Sweet who wrote a rather excellent piece about its 50th anniversary. If you’ve read it you know IĀ  came up with a thesis that it has more … Continue reading

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Filth, fury and the funny way Britain feels about Joe Orton

You never forget your first time. I was 19 years old. I descended into a dark, cramped basement where student actors brought to life a weird, twisted sexual triangle. Going to student drama productions in odd spaces around the University … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Crime and Justice, Culture, Film, Media, Radio, Theatre, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Oh Boy! Why certain Radio 1 DJs are missing believed wiped

If you sat down to watch a night of lost pop music TV shows from the 1950s, 60s and 70s, what would you expect to find?Ā  Fun, nostalgia, eye popping colour and experimentation, some great music. What I didn’t expect … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, History, Media, Music, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The making of The Stars of Sergeant Pepper

What are Mae West and Diana Dors doing on the cover of Sergeant Pepper’ Lonely Hearts Club band? If you feel you’ve heard too much already about the 50th anniversary of Ā the record, then fear not. Producer Luke Doran (who … Continue reading

Posted in Culture, History, Media, Music, Religion, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

How to win the coming culture war in 2017

A version of this article first appeared in The Big Issue magazine in January 2017. Journalism worth paying for. Available weekly from street vendors or subscriptions here. History rarely falls into neat numerical decades. I would assert the 1980s (yuppies, … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Comics/graphic novels, Culture, Film, Media, Music, Politics, Radio, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Theatre, TV, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ladybird books: Constructing the future past of modern Britain

I used to visit a beloved university English professorĀ  and his wife. He had won the Military Cross for hand to hand combat in the liberation of the Netherlands in 1945 but never talked about the terrible things he’d seen. … Continue reading

Posted in Books, Children, Culture, Design, Environment, Germany, History, Media, Uncategorized, War | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 23 Comments