The British military historian Sir Antony Beevor is busy promoting his new book Rasputin and the Downfall of the Romanovs. Here he in the guest on Jackson van Uden's History with Jackson podcast. Not only did I love Sylvia by Focus when I was 12, I could name all the Romanov tsars in their correct order. I had developed a fascination with Russian history after reading Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert K. Massie. Sadly, that knowledge has been lost over the years, along with reams of chess opening theory and the ability to construct proofs in formal logic.
"Our reviewers found that the guests or 'experts' are predominantly drawn from a pool of right wing commentators, politicians, polling organisations, or think tanks. The supposedly counterbalancing minority voices often have little real stature or expertise and are challenged or interrupted much more than the guests who agree with the presenter's views."Alan Rusbridger introduces The New World's special investigation of GB News and of Ofcom's abdication of its role. Thomas Worth sets out the threat the invigorated Greens pose to Liberal Democrat ambitions: "While it isn't likely the Greens will take seats from us, it is possible they will prevent ...
On Tuesday afternoon, I found myself scrolling Twitter - as one does (even if it invokes a sense of despair) - and could not help but feel disgusted by how so many speak of their peers. Social media has always brought out antisocial tendencies in some people, and it's a well-studied psychological phenomenon. Except I'm not sure it's just a phenomenon anymore. While most people in the real world are relatively nice and prosocial, over the last few years we have seen grievance politics bleed into the real world - with dangerous consequences In the wake of the Southport murders, ...
Ladies and gentlemen, we have our Headline of the Day. Well done to everyone at the Guardian.
Sylvia was that rare thing, a European hit in the UK in 1973. Despite being an instrumental, it got as high as no. 4 in the singles chart. And Focus's guitarist Jan Akkerman finished near the top in music papers' polls for the best guitarist for a good while afterwards. Me? I loved this record when I was 12.
A post on X from Luke Tryl, the UK Director of More in Common, the other day changed how I viewed the rise of the Green Party. The post was in response to the latest polling from Ipsos, which had us sitting on just 9%, the lowest we've polled since the 2024 General Election. In the post he said, 'If the Lib Dems go into May with the Greens eating at their progressive flank it could well limit their gains in e.g. the new East and West Surrey councils, Sussex and other south east districts'. As a longstanding member in ...
The latest edition of my email newsletter reviewing books about the last general election is out and you can also read it in full below. But if you'd like to get future editions emailed direct to you as soon as they are published, sign up now: Welcome to the latest in my series of reviews of books about the 2024 general election. I am reading them all so you can pick which ones to look at. If you're the author or editor of a general election book, please do get in touch to ensure that I do not miss your ...
The Guardian reports that they have unearthed some highly questionable clips featuring Nigel Farage during an investigation into his use of the personalised video platform Cameo. The paper says that some of the videos the Reform leader has sold include ones in which he endorsed a neo-Nazi event, repeated extremist slogans and supported a man convicted over his involvement in a far-right riot. They add that the haul includes videos in which Farage repeats a motto associated with the UK far right, references antisemitic conspiracy theories and makes misogynistic remarks about leftwing politicians - including a comment about the US ...
