Tag Archives: books
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 ali smith, BIG ISSUE, books, cinema, culture, culture war, Disney, dr quinn medicine woman, dreamgirls, everbody's talking about jamie, feminism, film, FTW, henry krieger, Hollywood, jane seymour, jon musker, media, moana, pauline boty, politics, rogue one, ron clements, susan faludi, tv, tyrus wong, unforgotten, Wonder Woman
Leave a comment
Ladybird books: Constructing the future past of modern Britain
I used to visit a beloved university English professor 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 60s, Bachelor of Hearts, books, conway hall, culture, Hardy Kruger, Ladybird books, media, michael balcon, politics, publishing, Sylvia Syms, war, wolf rilla
23 Comments
What should we read into bookshelf wallpaper?
This article first appeared in The Big Issue Magazine in August 2015 I went to a fancy middle class holiday camp the other week. You know the ones. It was fabulous. We did fencing, crossbows, rode Segways and swam every … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture, Design, Media
Tagged books, culture, literature, media, penny woolcock, plato's republic, publishing, roundhouse, utopia
1 Comment
Wilderness Years: From Rapunzel to Travolta and General Zod
A blind prince wanders through a Biblical-looking stony desert. The strange coda to Rapunzel is often forgotten, but it’s what I remember most about reading the Ladybird storybook as a child. And it’s where I chose to start today’s Something Understood … Continue reading
Posted in Books, History, Politics, Radio, Religion, Uncategorized
Tagged BAFTA, books, culture, Hinduism, James Taylor, John Profumo, John Travolta, Ladybird books, music, politics, Pulp Fiction, Rapunzel, Winston Churchill
5 Comments
People at work: Richard III and The 60s Town Planner
This piece was about Leicester’s repentence for planning atrocities against its medieval past. Thought it worth reposting as the High Court ruled in favour of a “dignified” burial in the city. Full details and judgement here. Maybe you used to … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Business/Economics, Culture, Design, History
Tagged 60s, Bentall Centre, Bentalls, books, culture, FTW, JG Ballard, Kingdom Come, Kingston-upon-Thames, Ladybird books, Leicester, Richard III, Urban planning, York
15 Comments
Plotting the arc of darkness with Joss Whedon
Here’s a link to my interview with Joss Whedon for Radio 3’s Night Waves on June 12th. We covered his writing for Roseanne, Shakespearean superheroes, his love of musicals — especially Brigadoon —Â the way studios treat writers, (take Firefly … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Children, Comedy, Comics/graphic novels, Culture, Media, Radio, Science Fiction/Fantasy, TV, Uncategorized
Tagged BBC, books, Brigadoon, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, cinema, culture, feminism, film, FTW, Hollywood, Joss Whedon, literature, media, music, Musicals, Roseanne, tv, zombies
4 Comments
Billy Liar, Bradford and the birth of the dollybird
“A lazy, irresponsible young clerk in provincial Northern England lives in his own fantasy world and makes emotionally immature decisions as he alienates friends and family.” Everyone loves Billy Liar. Apart from whoever wrote imdb’s current bizarrely censorious plot summary … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Comedy, Film, Uncategorized
Tagged 60s, books, Bradford, cinema, culture, feminism, film, Helen Fraser, John Schlesinger, Julie Christie, kitchen sink drama, Peter Handford, tom courtenay
12 Comments
Malala, Muslim women and “misery” memoirs
Oct 10th 2014 update: This was originally posted ahead of an Asia House panel discussion about women, freedom and the Islamic world, when the multimillion pound book deal of Malala Yousafzai was announced. It seems just as relevant since her … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture, Religion
Tagged books, feminism, Islam, literature, misery lit, publishing
Leave a comment
Mocha in the Family Latte: Race on American screens
“He should not be here, ” said the fish in the pot. ” he should not be here when your mother is not.” – The Cat In the Hat Dr Seuss (1957) It is a conundrum worthy of the massive … Continue reading
How The Middle East Became Another Planet
From Flash Gordon’s Ming the Merciless with his harem and his war rocket Ajax, to Frank Herbert’s prophecy-obsessed desert tribes in Dune battling over a valuable resource, the Middle East has always been another planet to western science fiction creators. … Continue reading
Posted in Books, Culture, History, Politics, Religion, Science, Uncategorized
Tagged 70s, Arab Spring, Argo, books, cinema, culture, Egypt, film, Iran, literature, Planet of the Apes, politics, terrorism, war, zombies
Leave a comment
