In a complex, changing world both peddle a simple us-and-them narrative. The results are calamitous Type in "conspiracy theories" and it is amazing what magma bubbles up. There are entire websites devoted to laying out the wildest scenarios supposedly hidden behind events from the assassinations of JFK and John Lennon to the deaths of Marilyn Monroe and Princess Diana, to 9/11; even the recent P..
We miscalculate environmental risk: eating certain meats is about the worst thing you can do to the planet The figures were so astounding that I refused to believe them. I found them buried in a footnote, and assumed at first that they must have been a misprint. So i checked the source, wrote to the person who first published them, and followed the citations. To my amazement, they appear to stan..
The perfect gift is one that lingers in your mind for ever, reminding you in bleak evening of generosity and love It was Christmas morning 1965, and I was nine years old. Through the wall of 108 Barnsley Road I could hear Mr Page next door playing God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen on his piano, and Mrs Page joining in in her sweet chapel alto. Later, once I'd opened all my presents, I would have to g..
Nain's stories of fishermen, settlers and cobblers taught me that people from my past had shaped my present. It's a gift I'm passing on to my daughter My grandma gave me a gift that she promised no one could ever take away. She was right. I still cling to it today. decades later. She told me who I was, she unlocked the past. For our family, history was never HMS Victory and Magna Carta. History ..
For the past few years Michelle Dean has spent most of the holiday by herself, amid concern over her wellbeing - even if she is doing it for practical reasons I have a plan for Christmas Day that, for the most part, involves solitude. I'll wake up at my ordinary hour, work for a bit, then perhaps go see a movie before arriving at a friend's for the same low-key "orphan's Christmas" dinner I've g..
Efforts to stock 'imperfect' and 'misshapen' vegetables are picking up, but too slowly. Why are we still fuss-potting about aesthetics while thousands of people trudge to local food banks? What pathetic supermarkets we have. Their efforts to sell imperfect fruit and veg are pretty weedy. All right, Morrisons is having a trial in the north-east, Asda's selling them in 25 stores, Waitrose tried an..
Forget making your own resolutions - and instead resolve to tell other people the things they should strive for One of the reasons Christmas is more fun than New Year is that if you give something you also get something, whereas with New Year you're supposed to make New Year resolutions. But what you really want to do is make good resolutions for other people. Why does someone always leave the f..
In January, a survey that claimed to make people fall in love swept the internet. Did they live happily after? About six weeks after I took part in the 36 Questions That Make You Fall In Love experiment, a woman approached me as I browsed magazines in a book shop in Lagos, Nigeria. :Excuse me," she asked. "Are you Bim Adewunmi from the paper?" I confirmed fer suspicion. Encouraged, she put her h..
Spent all night avoiding lecherous colleagues? Been told you're too 'hot' to work in the tech team? Such sexism is common at company parties - and employers must do more to tackle the problem at source Cornered by lecherous co-workers with wandering hands. Told loudly by a senior colleague that you're too "hot" to be part of the technical team. Proclaimed winner of the "best arse" award. Asked "..
The party season maybe all about fun and festivity. but sometimes those two words can seem a long way apart. Here are some tips that you won't get from anyone else As we trudge toward New Year's Eve, past dim office windows where tinsel glitters sadly around the screens of infinite PCs, it quickly becomes clear that one size of party does not fit all. This is the season for party tips - they com..
Stomach pain can be hard o avoid at Christmas. Is it a sign of underlying health problems? And will changing your lifestyle help? Most of us, particularly at this time of year, recognize the symptoms of indigestion: feeling sick, pain at the top of the abdomen (dyspepsia) or behind the breastbone (heartburn) and lots of burping. You may also feel bloated and particularly full up, even after eati..
Every year you go all out to have the best yuletide - only to be disappointed. Why is it that Christmas often fails to live up to our expectations? We plan for it months ahead with great enthusiasm, but when it arrives it often leaves us cold. If you recognize this description, and are facing the prospect of Christmas with some dread, read on. The reason that Christmas often disappoints can be e..
If we directly confronted people with their every flaw or annoyance, we'd all be exhausted and hurt all the time. Stop moralizing and get in on some hot goss "She doesn't have an unkind word to say about anyone" is almost universally understood as a compliment. It is meant to convey how nice a person is. But to me, what stands out is what this person is not saying. They aren't just being praised..
Cerebral palsy didn't rob Aideen Blackborough of the desire to become a mother - but she faced other obstacles, from prejudice to logistics and, not least, her own fears Aideen Blackborough's mum and dad's attitude to her disability was to see her as simply another of their four children - and because of this "just bloody well get on with it" attitude, Aideen grew up assuming that becoming a mot..
My faltering attempt to make it through a Haydn fugue might have its origins in something more akin to a Moari haka By the time you read this, I'm afraid, it'll be too late to attend the Christmas concert of the community choir to which I've belonged for a while now. I know, I know, you're gutted. But maybe it's better that way: the weekly rehearsals have become such an oddly transporting highli..