pandemic
Life’s little graces: Small Rain, by Garth Greenwell, reviewed
An unnamed narrator, confined to hospital with a torn aorta, reminisces about his past life in Bulgaria, his love of poetry and the happy domesticity he shared with his partner
Why were Germany’s Covid files redacted?
There are two kinds of long Covid. One is a medical syndrome, the other manifests as a healthy obsession –…
In the grip of apocalypse angst
Dorian Lynskey lays out the many ways in which we have imagined the world ending – through pandemic, nuclear holocaust, climate change, asteroid impact or, most unnervingly, AI
Fast and furious: America Fantastica, by Tim O’Brien, reviewed
As the avalanche of lies issuing from the White House morphs into the pandemic, Covid becomes in an engine of justice in this rollicking satire on Trumpworld
Why was an erroneous graph used to justify the second lockdown?
Two stories are emerging from the Covid Inquiry: one that it wants to tell and one that it does not.…
A feminist finds fulfilment in derided ‘women’s work’
Like many women in mid-life, Marina Benjamin found herself caring for the very young and the elderly – leading her to ‘a radical feminist turn’
Isolating with the ex: Lucy by the Sea, by Elizabeth Strout, reviewed
Elizabeth Strout’s fourth book about Lucy Barton comes on the heels of Oh William!, shortlisted for this year’s Booker Prize.…
Farewell, St Anthony Fauci
So farewell, Anthony Fauci, the unfortunate face of America’s pandemic response. Well, not so unfortunate – the doctor is stepping…
Has the lab leak theory really been disproved?
The BBC carried a story this week with the headline ‘Covid origin studies say evidence points to Wuhan market’. Bizarrely…
The Everybody Inn: what happened when a hotel opened its doors to the homeless?
What do you do when you pass someone sleeping or begging in the street? I’ll tell you what I do:…
Sheila Hancock takes pride in her irascibility
This book begins with Sheila Hancock wondering why she is being offered a damehood. I must say I slightly wondered…
Travels in time and space: Sea of Tranquility, by Emily St. John Mandel, reviewed
It’s a bold writer who confronts a major historical moment such as a pandemic before it’s over, but Emily St.…
Murder, suicide and apocalypse: Here Goes Nothing, by Steve Toltz, reviewed
Angus Mooney is dead. Freshly murdered, he’s appalled to find himself in an Afterworld, having always rejected the possibility of…
Should we worry about the BA.2 Omicron variant?
When the Omicron variant (now categorised as BA.1) swept across the world at the end of last year it was…
Is China's zero Covid game up?
Omicron has broken through China’s Covid wall. On Tuesday, the country saw a record-high of more than 5,000 cases, the…
Covid is rising again. Should we worry?
For some time now, Covid has been rising in Scotland – there are now more Scots in hospital with Covid…
Sage admits its models were 'at variance to reality'. But why?
The Sage committee was set up as a pool of experts on tap to advise government. During the pandemic, it mutated…
Ending restrictions won't save Boris
Boris Johnson certainly managed to rally the troops on their first day back from recess this afternoon as he told…
Two years on, what's the evidence for lockdown?
Did lockdowns save lives? We will never have a definitive answer to this vital question because it was impossible to…
Omicron is on its way out
Omicron peaked in England in early January, according to figures just released by the ONS. The estimates from the weekly…
Masks in schools: how convincing is the government's evidence?
Why has the government changed its mind and asked children to wear masks in school? When Plan B was announced…
Boris Johnson rejects lockdown (again)
Boris Johnson latest Covid press conference was slightly confusing. The Prime Minister spent nearly an hour saying nothing particularly new.…
The problem with 'vaccine equity'
‘A stain on our soul’. That was how Gordon Brown, in his latest missive on the subject, described the failure…
The churches must stay open
Hooray for Cardinal Vincent Nichols, who used the one day of the year when his pronouncements are amplified by the…
