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SPOILERS This book is the third in a trilogy by Douglas Stuart, the first being the Booker Prize winning Shuggie Bain (see my review here) and Young Mungo. As with his debut novel, there’s expectations that this is a Booker … Continue reading →
Journey Through Time The History of Reality TV Episode 1: Why We’re Obsessed with the Traitors. Well I’m not- in fact, I think that Traitors is only just reaching Australia now? This episode from October 7 2025 starts with historian … Continue reading →
It’s notable how often in discussing Artificial Intelligence (AI) we reach for theology. Anna Goldsworthy, in her Quarterly Essay subtitled ‘The threat and promise of Artificial Intelligence’ starts off with the warnings we have had from antiquity: Prometheus stole the … Continue reading →
I heard this author speaking on a podcast (can’t remember which one) where he highlighted parallels between the 1930s and the current situation. Certainly by the subtitles that surround the main title (‘From the Fractured 1930s to Today’s Crisis Culture’ … Continue reading →
With my embarrassingly shaky sense of the geography of the United States, it hadn’t really occurred me to wonder, when I saw Black Lives Matter riots throughout America, why there were so many African-Americans in northern states. Neither, it would … Continue reading →
Past Present Future This program, which I have only just discovered, is undertaking a series on The History of Bad Ideas. In this first episode they look at Hysteria. Hysteria has a very long history, described differently at different times- … Continue reading →
In his very first sentence of the preface, Toby Walsh warns us “This book is out of date”. He’s right- it was published in 2023 and it does already feel out of date. In 2018 Walsh wrote a book called … Continue reading →
I really can’t remember the last proper letter I received from a real person, as distinct from an optometrist reminding me to make an appointment or a real estate agent encouraging me to put my house on the market. It … Continue reading →
The First Saturday of the month is Six Degrees Day. This meme, hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best involves her choosing a starting book, then you linking the titles or themes of six other books. This … Continue reading →
The History Bureau Putin and the Apartment Bombs 6: The Trial In 2003, four years after the apartment bombs, there was a trial of the suspected bombers. Mikhael Trepashkin, who believed that the ‘Chechnyan terrorists’ was a cover-up for FSB … Continue reading →
