Cyril Smith’s 1934 song resuscitated for Hallowe’en. Continue reading
Monthly Archives: October 2016
Post #200: The liberty of the press
A robust defence of free speech from 200 years ago. Continue reading
Hold your hands out, naughty boys
ALWYN TURNER listens to the stars of the 1960s – from Dusty to the Bonzos – sing songs from the music halls. Continue reading
Aberfan: ‘It had fallen…’
Remembering the Aberfan disaster in 1966, an extract from JOHN SUMMERS’s novel The Disaster. Continue reading
‘Seagrove will run’: The Oympian I knew
He won Olympic medals, helped create the Commonwealth Games and, er, taught ALWYN TURNER. Continue reading
The arrest of Oscar Wilde
A contemporary newspaper account of Oscar being seized in 1895. Continue reading
Hastings remembered
‘The Norman had run riot on our fair South Saxon soil’: 950 years since Hastings. Continue reading
Saving democracy: The popular front against Fascism
Stephen Spender in 1936 on the political responsibilities of intellectuals. Continue reading
80 years ago: The future of Labour
From the News Chronicle in October 1936: Will there ever be a Labour government again? Continue reading
‘Originality without eccentricity’: Barry Pain
ALWYN TURNER celebrates the work of novelist and humorist Barry Pain. Continue reading
The quiet revolutionary Mark I
Theresa May isn’t the first Tory prime minister to promise a quiet revolution. Continue reading
Calling all cliches: Naming and shaming
Amber Rudd is the latest home secretary to pledge to name and shame. But who was the first? Continue reading
Lion & Unicorn 