15:58

Silent Spring

During the lockdown there has been many mentions of a Silent Spring - a phrase that has sinister connotations of a post-apocalyptic world of empty streets and newspaper blown around deserted playgrounds. We’ve all seen the films. 

But that is not how it feels - the opposite in reality. In the countryside birdsong has replaced traffic noise and blue sky the criss-cross of vapour trails. Helicopters, which have an aural footprint so much wider than their implied size, no longer clatter across the consciousness. In towns you hear conversations not motorbikes. You can walk along a country lane with a dog and hardly ever see a car. 

It’s not sinister. It’s beautiful. Remember it.
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17:42

South Africa - a sad waste

South Africa - a sad waste
This chart surprises and shocks. It surprises in the extraordinary economic success of so many African countries (these figures are pre-Coro...
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17:17

Toughening up

Toughening up
There has been much talk about wartime spirit of late - common danger faced with a heightened sense of community. The one thing that hasn’t ...
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13:28

Heathrow

Heathrow
There has been much jubilation at the Court of Appeal’s decision on Heathrow. Sadly (I think a third runway is a terrible idea) that jubilat...
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15:52

Tube Map

Tube Map
We all know what the London Tube map looks like. It’s not a great way to navigate your way around London above ground however - as many naiv...
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12:53

Octopuses

Octopuses
This is a review by Amir Shrinivasen in the London Review of Books of   Other Minds:  The Octopus and the Evolution of Intelligent   Life by...
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15:37

1917

1917
I went to see 1917 recently and seem to be in a minority of one that didn’t like it. Where to start? The story was ridiculous. Communication...
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