I know what we need: a reggae song about the famous clash between Karl Popper and Ludwig Wittgenstein at Cambridge in 1946. The words are by Tudor Rickards and the music and production are by the chess grandmaster Jonathan Levitt. I suspect there is some AI involved too. Incidentally, Charles Masterman's daughter Margaret Masterman, an unjustly overlooked philosopher, was in the room when Popper and Wittgenstein met too.
It's been called"perhaps the most damaging medical hoax of the last 100 years". On 28 February 1998 a research paper primarily written by physician Andrew Wakefield, was published in The Lancet. It suggested there was a link between the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) and autism. As the Wikipedia article on the affair explains, that paper was later found to be fraudulent: The fraud involved data bias and manipulation, and two undisclosed conflicts of interest. It was exposed in a lengthy Sunday Times investigation by reporter Brian Deer, resulting in the paper's retraction in February 2010 and Wakefield's being discredited ...
The latest episode of Never Mind The Bar Charts features the authors of a great new book, Tribal Politics: How Brexit Divided Britain. Sara Hobolt and James Tilley discuss how the Brexit referendum was the trigger for new political identities, identities which have persisted. We also discuss their surprising finding about the role for social media in forging anti-Brexit identities, as well as lessons from their research for pro-European campaigners. Feedback very welcome, and do share this podcast with others who you think may enjoy it. Show notes Tribal Politics: How Brexit Divided Britain by Sara Hobolt and James Tilley: ...
As part of the Fleet Street Quarter Festival of Words 2026 Damian Collins, author of Rivals in the Storm: How Lloyd George Seized Power, Won the War and Lost his Government, and a speaker at this year's Cymdeithas Lloyd George / Lloyd George Society meeting, will be in conversation with Richard Rhys O'Brien, long-standing Society member and biographer of Dame Margaret Lloyd George. They will be asking the question "Today, with crises at home and around the world, do we need leaders like Lloyd George who are unafraid to find unorthodox ways to take on important challenges?" The event is ...
Occasionally, one has the opportunity to comment on developments across two jurisdictions. The proposed social media ban for under-16s invites reflection on civil liberties, children's rights, and perceptions of government in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. With both the Irish Republic and the United Kingdom mulling banning teens under 16 from social media such as Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, and more, this piece warns that the solution to what ails young people is to address the root causes, not pursue crude policies like a ban. To begin with, for the liberal parties that both Fianna Fáil, one of ...
Wild Is the Wind was written for the 1957 film of the same name by the Hollywood team of composer Dimitri Tiomkin and lyricist Ned Washington, where it was sung by Johnny Mathis. The wonderful Nina Simone first recorded it for a live album in 1959. This studio version dates from 1966. Bill Janovitz says of it: On a recording by David Bowie and on Mathis' lush original ... it is a romantic torch song; the narrator is haunted by the possibility - one senses more of a probability - that his lover will not "run away with" him. There ...
Ukraine Robots are the future face of war. And Ukraine's dominance in the production of drones and unmanned boats and ground vehicles means that it is well on its way to becoming a defense industry superpower. Drone production is up from 800,000 a year three years ago to seven million in 2025. They enjoy a three to one advantage over the Russians over the top of the range First Person View (FPV) drones. These are drones fitted with a camera which allows the operator to see in real time everything the drone sees. Ukraine is also producing 1,000 fixed wing ...
The Guardian reports that Reform UK's leading figures have repeatedly promoted a new pothole-fixing machine by the construction company JCB, while the party received £200,000 from the British digger maker. The paper says that several Reform politicians including Nigel Farage, Lee Anderson, Robert Jenrick, Zia Yusuf and Richard Tice have sung the praises of the JCB PotHole Pro machine: At a rally last year in Birmingham, Farage entered the stage on one of the repair vehicles and suggested it would be used in Reform-run councils when the party had taken control at local elections. Describing JCB as "one of the ...