What if by (trying to) criminalise more (ordinary) people in the west, you’re losing support for your cause in already tolerant societies? https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/comment/lets-not-expand-hate-crime-even-further-cszz7zx28

‘87% of Amer...

Newspapers thrive on human interest stories about interesting or unusual people. The story of one person’s experience makes something real. People who have shared the same experience will feel close; people who don’t have the same experience will fe...

In the parable of five loaves and two fishes, Jesus feeds five thousand people. We only have four people in our house, but we managed to use five loaves from a Betty’s bread box and five cheeses from a Pong subscription box to make nine meals (or...

The omniscient narrator has long been out of fashion, but research by Jonathan Leavitt and Nicholas Christenfeld has shown that reader enjoyment can be increased with spoilers. Narrators are also not all equal. Narrators in Anthony Trollope’s Bars...

In the 1940s and 50s, Abraham Maslow came up with a theory about what motivates humans. Basic needs—food, water, security—come before higher order needs—friendship, accomplishment, creativity. Most days I feel I’m juggling all of these needs: mak...

Sigfried Sassoon was always my favourite war poet, but on my walks I keep walking past Wilfred Owen's house.

At school we studied (a lot) about Wilfred Owen. And when I was studying stylistics, I found a great course at the University of L...