Clubs and Karens
April 2024
On the Garrick Club
Kate-Gate
March 2022
The hoo-ha over Kate's pictures shows the Royals' diminishing power.
March 2023
Modern Examples of Moral Pollution
Lee & the Politics of Language
February 2024
Words have meanings.
Keir's Moral Mess
February 2024
Labour's leader is not the man he tells you he is.
Rachel's Risible Rep
February 2024
A real-time example of why we get the wrong politicians.
Reverends and Refugees
February 2024
Being too trusting, the Church is making others suffer.
The Man Who Saw the Future
February 2024
On Tom Clancy as a geopolitical prophet.
February 2024
Every scandal in modern Britain contains an element of state failure.
People Always See What They Look For
January 2024
Reputations reveal the biases of those who bestow them
Marcus and the Magpie
January 2024
A lesson in Stoicism from a garden bird.
January 2024
On the risks of relying on your reputation.
January 2024
We have no more bad actors than before, but have built a system which magnifies their impact.
Sound Bites and Self-Regard
January 2024
On the similarity between politicians and reality show contestants.
Just Entertain Us
January 2024
There is nothing wrong with a bit of triviality.
(Reprinted at The New Conservative and The Conservative Woman)
52 Things the Internet Taught Me
December 2023
A selection of factoids from a year in front of the web.
(Reprinted in The New Conservative)
December 2023
Britain (and particularly the Middle Class) will soon realise they are much poorer than they thought they were.
Robots and Rats
December 2023
We worry about AI going wrong. We should worry about it going right.
Too Many Great Men
December 2023
There is a difference between bending history to your will and letting it happen around you.
It's Dave's World
November 2023
Most problems in Britain can be blamed on David Cameron
Asking the Wrong Question
November 2023
Rather than worry about why England did so badly, we should ask how, given its disadvantages, it did so well.
Bob's Law
November 2023
A nation which cannot enforce speech laws equally should have no speech laws.
Mistakes Were Made
October 2023
It's always the little things.
(Reprinted in The Conservative Woman)
October 2023
Neither Left not Right is being entirely consistent over the Middle East.
Dreams of Futures Past
October 2023
Labour is partying like its 2015.
The Grip of Rome
October 2023
Why the Empire still fascinates.
Shameless
October 2023
Society is losing its ability to shame.
Dinner with the President
September 2023
An initial (and possibly final) stab at fiction.
The Populism of the Centrists
September 2023
Centrists are just as simplistic as populists
September 2023
People vote for those they think are like themselves
We Want to Believe
September 2023
On the hunt for the Loch Ness Monster
Six Books and A Chapter
September 2023
Self-help that actually works
The End of Empire
August 2023
Ukraine was supposed to show the limits of Russian power, it is showing the limits of America's.
August 2023
​
July 2023
Even if you think Empire is bad, Britain's might have been preferable.
July 2023
We can disagree with Farage's debanking, while defending Coutts' right to do it.
July 2023
As the West becomes less Christian, is it becoming more Greek?
Beyond Contempt
July 2023
Contempt is easy and fun. Better though to tune out, turn off and drop out.
Our Incoherent Elite
July 2023
Society suffers when the elite prize the coherence of their models over their outputs.
June 2023
In the 19th century, Science made Man the cleverest thing in the universe. In the 21st, it will dethrone him.
September 2022
What does the Queen's death mean for Britain's self-image?
September 2022
The BBC's problem is not so much its politics as the fact it is so up itself.
August 2022
When companies get involved in politics, who is playing whom?
August 2022
The Lionesses' victory was a great moment for English sport, but was it a great sporting moment?
July 2022
The leadership election shows the Conservatives are still stuck in the '70's.
July 2022
The Italian Stallion as a political thinker.
July 2022
Boris paid for his sins. And those of others.
July 2022
Tradition dictates the next PM will be a Nerd, but we live in a Jock's world.
July 2022
Labour's Brexit conversion shows that, despite everything, politics is still working.
June 2022
Much political commentary depends on History moving in straight lines. The problem is, it doesn't.
June 2022
Many of the differences between left and right can be explained not by philosophy or morality, but by timeframe.
June 2022
No matter whether Prince Charles is right about Rwanda, is his intervention wise?
June 2022
On the similarities between the House of Windsor and Apple.
June 2022
How superhero movies stand in a tradition dating back to the dawn of literature.
(Interview with ABC RN's Counterpoint with Amanda Vanstone here)
May 2022
Our reaction to overturning Roe v. Wade depends on how we think rights arise (an Areo Monthly Patrons' Newsletter favourite).
May 2022
The Queen's popularity is good for her, but is it good for her heirs?
May 2022
What a study into the New York taxi industry in the 1970's tells us about the cost of living crisis.
April 2022
Some Reflections on the (failed) Revolution in France.
April 2022
Most of the issues which bedevil America also threaten Britain.
April 2022
Why do people believe such weird stuff? Featured in Guido Fawkes' "Seen Elsewhere".
April 2022
Russia sees itself as the "Third Rome". In Ukraine, it is acting like the first.
(Interview with ABC RN's Counterpoint with Amanda Vanstone here)
March 2022
Politicians like to claim the moral high ground, but is this always wise?
March 2022
Declining faith in God gets the attention, but it is falling belief in the Devil which should concern us.
March 2022
The media both reflect and shape society's attitudes. In the case of Ukraine, this should concern us.
March 2022
The ideas of two Cold War thinkers should make us sceptical about Europe becoming a Great Power
May 2021
Why Britain's Greatest Generation is not the same as America's
February 2022
Why do celebrities need to tell us about their misfortunes?
February 2022
How the ideas of an American aviator explain political developments
January 2022
"Seriousness" is an over-rated political virtue. (Featured in Guido Fawkes' "Seen Elsewhere")
January 2022
We often cut some slack to those whose performance is vital to our overall success. Why not now?
December 2021
Why it's fine to update Santa but not to mess with Notre Dame. (An Areo Patrons' Newsletter Favourite).
November 2021
Less an attempt to use ancient wisdom to solve modern problems, more an attempt to find ancient justification for modern beliefs.
November 2021
In neither theory nor practice is being an MP a full-time job. It should not be paid as one. (Featured in Guido Fawkes' "Seen Elsewhere")
October 2021
A Tale of Two Tsunamis or How we created a world we no longer understand
September 2021
Humans have traditionally seen themselves as superior to animals. Do they still and, if so, why?
(Interview with ABC RN's Counterpoint with Amanda Vanstone here)
August 2021
How a pre-historic need to co-operate relates to our online behaviour
May 2021
British elections are usually won by the posher candidate. What does that mean for Labour?
January 2021
Successful countries have a shared ethos and mythos. America, increasingly, has neither.
January 2021
How an ancient philosophy can help us with a modern problem
​
November 2020
Why "British Exceptionalism" is as much a feature of the Left as the Right
September 2020
When we say someone's beliefs make them unfit for office, what are we actually saying?
July 2020
Is Intersectionality a new moral system? And does it work?
June 2019
The Stoics never talked about divorce. But they can still help with it. (Reprinted in Stoicism Today: Selected Writings: Volume III)
Publications
Discover Your Next Read
June 2022
No matter whether Prince Charles is right about Rwanda, is his intervention wise?
June 2022
On the similarities between the House of Windsor and Apple.
June 2022
How superhero movies stand in a tradition dating back to the dawn of literature.
May 2022
Our reaction to overturning Roe v. Wade depends on how we think rights arise (an Areo Monthly Patrons' Newsletter favourite).
May 2022
The Queen's popularity is good for her, but is it good for her heirs?
May 2022
What a study into the New York taxi industry in the 1970's tells us about the cost of living crisis.
April 2022
Some Reflections on the (failed) Revolution in France.
April 2022
Most of the issues which bedevil America also threaten Britain.
April 2022
Why do people believe such weird stuff? Featured in Guido Fawkes' "Seen Elsewhere".
April 2022
Russia sees itself as the "Third Rome". In Ukraine, it is acting like the first.
(Interview with ABC RN's Counterpoint with Amanda Vanstone here)
March 2022
Politicians like to claim the moral high ground, but is this always wise?
March 2022
Declining faith in God gets the attention, but it is falling belief in the Devil which should concern us.
March 2022
The media both reflect and shape society's attitudes. In the case of Ukraine, this should concern us.
March 2022
The ideas of two Cold War thinkers should make us sceptical about Europe becoming a Great Power
February 2022
Why do celebrities need to tell us about their misfortunes?
February 2022
How the ideas of an American aviator explain political developments
January 2022
"Seriousness" is an over-rated political virtue. (Featured in Guido Fawkes' "Seen Elsewhere")
January 2022
We often cut some slack to those whose performance is vital to our overall success. Why not now?
December 2021
Why it's fine to update Santa but not to mess with Notre Dame. (An Areo Patrons' Newsletter Favourite).
November 2021
Less an attempt to use ancient wisdom to solve modern problems, more an attempt to find ancient justification for modern beliefs.
November 2021
In neither theory nor practice is being an MP a full-time job. It should not be paid as one. (Featured in Guido Fawkes' "Seen Elsewhere")
October 2021
A Tale of Two Tsunamis or How we created a world we no longer understand
September 2021
Humans have traditionally seen themselves as superior to animals. Do they still and, if so, why?
(Interview with ABC RN's Counterpoint with Amanda Vanstone here)
August 2021
How a pre-historic need to co-operate relates to our online behaviour
May 2021
British elections are usually won by the posher candidate. What does that mean for Labour?
May 2021
Why Britain's Greatest Generation is not the same as America's
January 2021
Successful countries have a shared ethos and mythos. America, increasingly, has neither.
January 2021
How an ancient philosophy can help us with a modern problem
​
November 2020
Why "British Exceptionalism" is as much a feature of the Left as the Right
September 2020
When we say someone's beliefs make them unfit for office, what are we actually saying?
July 2020
Is Intersectionality a new moral system? And does it work?
June 2019
The Stoics never talked about divorce. But they can still help with it. (Reprinted in Stoicism Today: Selected Writings: Volume III)