Just For One Day.

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Just For One Day reminded me how lucky I was to live through the 80s. Bob Geldof may have his critics, but he did two things brilliantly: He mobilised the music industry to supercharge aid for Ethiopia’s most vulnerable. And he glorified my favourite word—though he never actually said, “Give us your fucking money!” It … Read more

My day (so far) …

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I never imagined that a complimentary cup of tea at John Lewis and a free cinema ticket from Sky would spark such a profound shift in perspective. Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale wasn’t my choice. On the surface, it embodied everything I recoil from—entrenched privilege, inherited power, and the polished veneer of inequality. And yet, … Read more

Places of worship: an agnostic love affair.

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An agnostic walks into a church sounds like the commencement of a joke, yet the funny thing is this describes my not so guilty pleasure. I guess initially I was drawn to the architectural splendour of these symbols of faith as my rejection of the central tenet of religion remains steadfast. Yet, one day in … Read more

Sticks and stones: but how harmful are nicknames?

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Amongst the lies we tell ourselves, the childhood rhyme of “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me,” figures fairly highly in the deception stakes. In adulthood this proverb is usually reinforced by the misplaced mantra, “It never did me any harm.” Granted, not all narratives are necessarily harmful, but … Read more

Wild thing: Charles Wright and the curse of the underdog.

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The curse of the underdog is an idea that suggests that while smaller fry often have an advantage in motivation, they can frequently struggle when they transition into a position of success. There exists an argument that, once an underdog achieves victory, they lose the hunger and drive that made them successful in the first … Read more